


Accidents Happen

by Jdlilith



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-17
Updated: 2020-01-29
Packaged: 2020-06-30 03:40:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 51,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19844812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jdlilith/pseuds/Jdlilith
Summary: When Lucy gets hurt on a job something changes between her and Gray. A new relationship starts to form but unfortunately not everyone is happy about this fact. It seems like every force in the universe wants to keep Lucy and Gray apart but Gray won't have any of that. I do not own Fairy Tail. Takes place after GMG without Tartaros





	1. Chapter 1

_September X791_

“Why does this always happen to us?” Lucy complained. There was a loud explosion in the distance that was certainly caused by Natsu destroying something.

Lucy and company had taken what was supposed to be an easy job earlier that week. It was advertised as a search for a runaway heiress. Lucy had been against taking the job at first, the whole thing hit close to home for her, but Natsu convinced her that she would be best suited to working things out between the girl and her family. That and the large million jewel reward was what landed Lucy in her current mess. After they arrived at the clients home they found out the girl had not runway but had instead been kidnapped. They were able to track down the men that kidnapped her and found out they were part of a dark guild. They were now in an old, run-down, hotel outside of town where the guild was holding up. Erza and Natsu had charged ahead to search for the kidnapped girl, leaving Gray and Lucy to handle most of the guild on their own.

“Sounds like Natsu is having fun.” Gray commented after there was another explosion. The two of them were in the entry way of the building. Natsu and Erza had both run upstairs. There was currently about thirty member of the dark guild between Lucy and Gray and the stairs. They were going to have to fight their way to their friends. “Let’s hurry up and finish this so we can join them.”

Lucy summoned both Taurus and Cancer to fight alongside them. It didn’t take long for the four of them to cut through most of the mages in front of them. They soon found themselves facing only three members of the dark guild. Lucy recalled both her spirts and regrouped with Gray. There was a women that had bright pink hair and was wearing a purple bikini with a shear skirt. She was using a form of maker magic that used glass. The two others were both huge men, built like Laxus, who looked like brothers. One was using gravity magic, Lucy hadn’t seen the other one make any moves yet.

“I’ll take big and his pal ugly if you take on the little girl.” Gray told Lucy. She could tell that he was getting worn out but he was trying not to let it show.

“You make it sound like she’s the easy one!” Lucy gawked at him. Wouldn’t he be a better match against a maker mage? She could summon more spirits to help her with the two on one.

“Gravity magic doesn’t affect my ice like it would your spirts.” Gray pointed out to her, keeping an eye on their opponents. “And I really don’t like the look of his buddy, he could be dangerous.”

“Oh …” Lucy realized then that Gray was trying to protect her. He had actually thought this out. “Okay, just be careful.” She told him. She hated when the guys tried to protect her but she wasn’t going to put herself in danger just to prove a point to them.

Lucy summoned both Loke and Gemini to her side to help her fight. Loke stood between her and the glass-make mage. Gray was already starting on his fight with the brothers. Gemini was floating around Lucy, waiting for their orders. “Gemini, I need you to go help out Gray. Even that fight out a bit, got it!”

“Piri-Piri” They chirped as they flew over to Gray and transformed into a twin of him.

“Hey! Focus on your own fight!” Gray yelled at her. The women in front of Lucy was already attacking Loke with daggers made of glass.

“This isn’t really my style, baby doll.” Loke said as he dodged out of the way. “Maybe we could get drinks instead?”

“Stop flirting! This is serious!” Lucy yelled at him. She was so distracted she didn’t see the next attack until it was almost on top of her. Loke quickly jumped in a carried Lucy out of harm’s way. When Lucy got back on her feet she pulled out her whip and got ready to fight. She knocked down the next attack, a chain and sickle, and got Loke the opening he needed to hit the women with a Regulus blast, knocking her out.

“I would love to stay with you Lucy, but I can tell you’re getting low on magic power.” Loke told her and bowed before fading away. Gray and Gemini had finished off their battle as well. Gray high fived himself before Gemini faded away.

“Well, that’s the last of them.” Lucy said as she collapsed into her back, panting for breath. She wasn’t use to having two spirts out for such a long period of time yet. Gemini also took up more magic power when it was casting its own magic spells. Lucy hadn’t noticed how much magic they had drained from her until they were gone. She really needed to work on being aware of her magic power stores.

Gray walked over to where Lucy was. He was pretty beat up himself and was grateful for Gemini’s help. The fight had taken a lot out of him. “It’s not over, we still got the master to deal with.” He reminded Lucy and helped her up.

“Let’s get going.” Lucy groaned as she got up. They could hear the noise from Erza and Natsu’s battle in the distance. It sounded like they were on the other side of the building and causing a mess. Lucy would be surprised if the old hotel would survive this.

Lucy lead the way up the stairs and headed down the hall in the direction of the fighting. She was about halfway down a hallway when she felt something move under her feet and heard a creaking noise. “Did you hear that?” She asked as she came to a stop.

Gray wasn’t paying attention and walked right into Lucy. “Hey, why did you …” There was a loud snapping sound before the floor under them gave way and they both were falling. They hit the floor below hard and it gave way too, sending them falling again.

“Open Gate of the Ram, Aries!” Lucy called out in mid fall. They both landed on a soft pile of Aries pink wool in the basement of the hotel.

“I’m sorry!” The shy spirt cried as she hid her face.

“You did great Aries. Thank you.” Lucy smiled at her. A second later Aries and her wool vanished as Lucy passed out.

“Lucy!” Gray ran over to check on her. She looked unhurt, but summoning Aries must have used up the last of her magic power. He checked her over to make sure she wasn’t hurt in the fall then looked around to see if he could find a way out for them. It looked like they were in an old cellar that wasn’t used for many years before the hotel was even shut down. He couldn’t see a way to get out besides the way they had come in. The floor above them was to high for Gray to jump out, especially seeing he would have to carry Lucy. He might have been able to make stairs or something with his magic but he was running low on magic power as well. He was worried if he used the power he had left to get them out he would just put them in a more dangerous situation if someone came across them.

Gray sighed, they were going to have to wait for Erza and Natsu to come looking for them. He moved Lucy over to the wall and sat down on the ground with her in his lap. He held her close to his body. It was cold in the cellar, and while it didn’t bother him, he knew Lucy wasn’t a fan of the cold. Gray was cursing his stripping habit right then seeing how he left his jacket in the entry way. Lucy could use it’s warmth right then.

It seemed like the fighting above them was going on forever. The whole building was shaking and Gray ended up putting an ice shield around them to avoid falling debris from hitting them. It took more concentration then he would have liked to hold the spell in place. It also made the air around them even colder. Thankfully after a few minutes he heard Natsu shouting out a Fire Dragon: Roar that he was sure ended the fight.

“Was that Natsu?” Lucy asked, her voice sounded weak as she was waking up.

“Yeah,” Gray smiled at her as he let his shield fade away. “Sounds like they will be here soon. Just try and rest.”

Lucy nodded, snuggling closer to Gray’s chest. She was very cold but he felt warm. She didn’t realize the position she was in until his arms wrapped around her and rubbed hers to warm them. It took a few seconds after noticing she was laying in Gray’s lap for her to notice he was half naked. She was so use to him fighting in various states of undress that she didn’t even notice it anymore, but now she noticed. She was aware of how hard his chest felt under her hands, his skin was cooler than most people but felt hot in the cold air of the cellar. She tried moving away from him only to have his arms tighten around her.

“It’s cold down here.” He explained, “It doesn’t bother me any but I know you have to be freezing. You also used up a lot of magic power, you should just rest and let me keep you warm.”

Lucy could feel herself blushing. This was a very intimate position that they were in but Gray was right. Lucy was still exhausted and the idea of leaving his warmth for the cold room didn’t appeal to her. She laid her head back on his chest and closed her eyes. She would rest for just a little longer then they would get up. She slowly drifted back off to sleep.

“I found them! And you’ll never guess what they’re doing!” Lucy was woken up by Happy’s sing-song voice in her ear. The Exceed was floating in the air just in front of her face with a grin on his face.

“Go away, Happy. I’m trying to sleep.” Lucy swatted at the cat before burrowing herself closer to the warmth under her.

“Okay, but I’m telling Natsu that you’re using Gray as a bed.” Happy giggled as he started to fly away.

“What?” Lucy opened her eyes and looked down to see she was still in Gray’s lap, laying on his chest. She quickly moved away, a wave of dizziness making her sway. Gray’s hands quickly reached out to steady her.

“Careful, don’t move to fast.” He told her.

“Get back her Happy!” She called up to the cat that was already halfway back up to the first floor. Luckily he stopped and came back down to her, floating between her and Gray. “I will give you anything if you just keep your mouth shut about what you saw.” She didn’t want to give Natsu and Gray a reason to fight any more than they already did.

“Anything?” Happy’s eyes got huge. “Like a fish that weighs as much as you? Oh that would be so huge!” Happy started to drool thinking of a giant fish. “You got a deal!”

“I’m not that heavy you stupid cat!” Lucy yelled and tried to hit him but he moved out of the way, still in his daydream.

Gray got up slowly and stretched out his sore muscles. He felt weak but his strength was coming back quickly. “Happy, can you fly us out of here?”

“Aye sir!” Happy grabbed ahold of Lucy and started carrying her out. “You’re even heavier than before, Lucy. You owe me one big fish.” He commented and Gray could hear them bickering all the way up. After Happy dropped off Lucy he came back and got Gray.

Erza was on the main level with Lucy. Gray didn’t see any sign of Natsu and all the guild members they had beat earlier were now tied up. Lucy was sitting on the ground next to a kneeling Erza. It looked like she still didn’t have the strength to stand on her own yet.

“What happened to you two?” Erza asked Gray.

“The floor gave out under us. Lucy used up all her magic power to save us.” He explained quickly.

“I bet the floor gave out because Lucy weighs so much.” Happy snickered.

“Shut up, cat!” Lucy yelled but the winced at the ponding in her head.

“I already sent Natsu back to town with the girl and called the Rune Knights to take care of these men.” Erza told Gray, using her general voice. “You should had back to the hotel with Lucy. She will need plenty of rest.”

“I’m fine.” Lucy tried to protest when Gray went to pick her up. She stood up but was swaying on her feet.

“You can hardly stand right now, Lucy. Let me help you.” Gray sounded worried and a little irritated with her. She wasn’t sure why he was irritated unless he was just upset at her running out of magic power in the middle of a fight, again. In the end she had to concede that she probably wouldn’t be able to walk out of this hotel on her own, let alone back to town. She would just have to let Gray carry her.

The walk back to town was long and awkward. Gray had retrieved his cloths and had Lucy wrapped in his jacket. He was carrying her in his arms and she had hers wrapped around his neck to keep from falling. Now that they were in the sun she could tell just how cold Gray really was. She was grateful now to have his shirt and jacket between them. Happy was flying alongside them on the way back. He must have noticed how bad Lucy was because he had stopped making fun of her. The warm sun and Gray’s steady breathing ended up lulling Lucy off to sleep again.

He took her back to the hotel they were staying at in town and right to the room she was sharing with Erza. He was surprised to see Natsu waiting there on the bed. “Lucy! What happened to her?” He demanded when Gray walked in. “You were supposed to keep her safe!”

“Shut up, Flame-Brain.” Gray said quietly as he laid Lucy down. Do you want to wake her up? She just over exerted herself. She will be fine with rest.” Gray tucked her into the blankets and made sure she would be comfortable. He felt guilty about everything that had happened. If she hadn’t sent Gemini to fight with him she probably would have been fine. His guilt must have shown on his face because Natsu didn’t give him a hard time about it. They both stayed with her until Erza got back. It was agreed that they would stay the night for Lucy to recover before they headed back to Magnolia.

Lucy woke up surrounded by Grays scent in the morning. It was like fresh fallen snow and spiced cider. She was a little disappointed to find the smell was coming from the jacket she was wearing and not from the man himself. She was feeling better that morning but she still wasn’t to her full power. She got herself ready and packed up before heading with the team to the train station. She gave Gray back his jacket when she saw him.

The train ride back was mostly quiet. Erza had knocked Natsu out so they wouldn’t have to listen to him complain the whole ride. He was laying across the bench with his head in Erza’s lap. Happy was sleeping on his back. Lucy was sitting next to Gray with her head on the window, watching the country side roll past. She hadn’t said anything to Gray all day except to thank him for letting her use his jacket. About half way back to Magnolia Erza left them in search of food.

“Are you upset with me?” Gray asked Lucy when they were basically alone. “I mean, about what happened yesterday.”

Lucy didn’t understand what he was talking about, looking at him with confusion on her face. “What do you mean? I’m the one who messed things up.”

“You didn’t mess things up. You saved me butt, twice.” He assured her, shaking his head. “It’s just you seemed upset when Happy found us together … I mean … I didn’t overstep or anything … did I?”

Lucy blushed a little but shook her head. “I just didn’t want him making a big deal out of nothing.” She smiled at him. “I mean we are friends, right. Friends look out for each other. That’s all you were doing.”

Gray smiled back at her. “Yeah, you’re right.” He reached out and gently pulled her down so her head was laying in his lap. Lucy felt awkward but didn’t stop him.

“Gray?” She asked, unsure.

“You still look horrible. Get some sleep. I’ll wake you when we get to Magnolia.” He told her. He could see her blushing slightly but she nodded lightly and closed her eyes. He played with a stand of her hair until her breathing evened out and she was sleeping. Erza returned a few minutes later. She raised her eyebrow at the new position Lucy was in. Gray just shrugged his shoulders at her and she sat down without comment. They rest of the train ride was uneventful.

When they got back to the guildhall they learned that they had managed not to screw things up as bad as they thought they had. The Magic Counsel was happy to have the master of the dark guild in custody and was willing to overlook the destruction they had caused in the process. The hotel that was half ruble now was supposed to be demolished in a week. The town wasn’t looking for any recovery for the damage and was actually grateful that they had removed the guild that had been causing problems. It was the first time in a long while that Team Natsu managed to get a full reward, no strings attached.

The team decided that they had earned a few days off after that. Natsu and Happy took off to go fishing and Erza went to Hargeon to do some shopping. Lucy had spent a few days at home, enjoying the quiet and working on her book. Today she was in the guild, sitting with Levy, telling her friend about their last job.

“Don’t forget about the fish you owe Happy.” Gray commented as he came to sit next to her. His arm went around her shoulder. It felt a little strange to Lucy but she was more focused on his comment than where his arm was.

“I never agreed to that deal. That stupid cat probably forgot already.” She said as she crossed her arms over her chest.

“Happy never forgets about fish.” Gray laughed at her.

“Why do you owe Happy a fish?” Levy asked. She was looking between Gray and Lucy. Lucy may not have noticed Gray’s arm but she had, She also noticed how Lucy was leaning slightly into him.

Lucy blushed and it was Gray who answered the question. “He caught Lucy getting all touchy-feely with me.” He thought the whole thing was hilarious now.

“It wasn’t like that!” Lucy said quickly, moving away from Gray as he laughed. “I was unconscious. If anything you were the one getting touchy-feely.” She accused him.

Gray shrugged. “Could you blame me if I was?”

“You’re such a pervert!” She groaned in frustration, her face was redder the Erza’s hair. Even Levy was chuckling at them.

“You don’t mean that.” He put his arm around her again and pulled her against him. Lucy squeaked at the sudden closeness. “Maybe next time I’ll let the building fall on you.”

“You wouldn’t.” She didn’t sound to sure of that. “I’m sorry.” She added.

Gray let her go then but kept his hand on her back as she moved away. Lucy only moved back fully into her seat but didn’t move out of his reach. She went back to her conversation with Levy, acting as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. She was aware that what just happened with Gray was beyond weird but she hoped if she ignored it then Levy would as well.

While Levy was curious as to what she had just witnessed she allowed Lucy to turn the topic of their conversation to her book she was working on. This wasn’t a topic that Gray typically cared for, even Levy’s fan club would disappear when they started in on books, but Gray didn’t leave today. Over the next few days Lucy noticed a change in Gray’s behavior. He would always find her when he came to the guildhall and he would put his arm around her or press his leg against hers. He seemed to like touching her now for some reason. Lucy thought it was strange at first but she had slowly got use to his cool touch and enjoyed having his spiced cider scent around her.

By the end of the week it became natural for the two of them to be sitting close together while hanging out with their friends at the guild. They often got weird looks but no one said anything to them. Juvia had become a little more hostile with Lucy. She would glare at her more from across the guild and had stopped talking to her. Lucy had become so accustomed to this new behavior from Gray she didn’t even notice it anymore. She did notice when he stopped touching her.

Natsu had come back from his fishing trip by the end of the weekend and he was ready to go on another job with Lucy. Lucy was sitting at a table with Gray when he came in. Lucy didn’t even notice Natsu walk into the guild but she did notice when Gray’s hand moved away from her back. The sudden warmth where his cool hand had been was hard to miss. Before she could say anything, not that she was sure what she would have said, Natsu was sitting across from them.

“Hey, Luce, you ready for another job? I found one that would be perfect for the three of us?” Natsu asked her. He had picked out a mission to retrieve a rare plant from the caves in Mount Hakobe. It should be an easy job for him, Happy, and Lucy.

“What do you mean the three of you? I thought we were a team.” Gray asked him.

“We are, Happy, Lucy and me.” Natsu told him.

“And where do I fall in that?”

Natsu looked at him confused before turning back to Lucy. “What do you say Lucy? Are you coming?”

“Umm … Sure. Let me just go home and get some warmer clothes.” She said, looking between Natsu and Gray. She had learned that if they were going to Mount Hakobe then she was going to need warm clothes or she would be miserable the whole time.

“You don’t need to worry about that. I can keep you warm, Luce.” Natsu told her with his classic grin.

“What’s that supposed to mean, Pyro?” Gray shouted, leaning over the table at Natsu.

“It don’t mean nothing, Perv.” Natsu shouted back, getting in Gray’s face.

“You’re the one being a perv!” Gray told him.

“At least I’m still wearing my clothes!” Natsu pointed out. Gray had, somehow, ended up in just his boxers, again. Gray couldn’t even think of a response to Natsu. That was when the fight dissolved into fists. It looked like they wouldn’t be leaving on that job for a while now.


	2. Chapter 2

Lucy would like to say her life was normal, simple even, but that would be a lie. Being a Fairy Tail wizard meant your life was always full of interesting situations, most involving fighting at the guildhall. It seemed like life was just getting more interesting every day for Lucy. She was a little surprised how quickly she had gotten use to Gray’s closeness. It had only been a week since things had changed with Gray but it felt strange to be out without him.

The job on Mount Hakobe was easy enough to do. Lucy had demanded that she get warm clothes before going and they were able to finish the job with easy in relative comfort. Natsu had seemed to forget all about his fight with Gray the second they left the guildhall. That wasn’t anything new. What was new was the weird feeling Lucy had the whole time they were gone. She felt like something was missing. She had found herself looking around for Gray more than once when a cold breeze brushed against her. For someone who hated the cold she found herself missing his cool presence. She had even bought hot spiced cider on the way back to Magnolia, so she could warm up of course.

When they got back late the day after they left Lucy went right to the guildhall. She found Levy there but Jet and Droy were nowhere to be found. Gajeel was sitting at the next table with Lily though, watching Levy while she was reading over her books. Lucy got a mug of hot cider, she was still too cold for her normal milkshake, and sat across from Levy.

“Hey, Lu, how did the job go with Natsu?” Levy asked, not looking up from her books.

“Great, two jobs in a row where Natsu didn’t completely ruin anything.” Lucy was smiling. She was looking around at the other people gathered in the guild. The normal gangs were all there. Mira and Kinana at the bar, Nab staring at the request board, Macao and Wakaba were drinking with Cana. She even saw Jet and Droy hanging out with Wendy.

“That must be a record or something.” Levy chuckled. She looked up when Lucy just made a noise of agreement. “He’s not here.”

“Who?” Lucy looked startled. She didn’t know why but she felt like she had just been caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

“Gray. He went on a job with Juvia this morning. He should be back in a day or two.” Levy had something akin to a smirk on her face. Lucy didn’t like it.

“I wasn’t looking for …” Lucy started to deny it but then Levy’s words sank in. “He went on an overnight job with Juvia? What was he thinking?”

“Didn’t you just get back from an overnight job with Natsu?” Levy pointed out.

“Yeah, but that’s different. It’s just Natsu. He’s not obsessed with me like Juvia.” Lucy was going to make a point about Gray sending the poor water mage mixed signals but Gajeel started laughing at her. He had apparently been listening to their conversation

“You don’t think Flame Boy is obsessed with you? You must be blind, Bunny Girl.” Gajeel said with his characteristic laugh.

“You’re as bad as Mira sometimes, Gajeel.” Lily said with a sigh before turning to Lucy. “I am sorry he was so rudely listening into your conversation.”

“You would think he was raised by dragons or something.” Lucy said with an eye roll, causing Levy and Lily to laugh.

“As a matter of fact, I was. Anyone got a problem with that?” Gajeel growled at them causing all three to just laugh more.

When Lucy came by the guildhall two days later Gray had come back and was sitting at a table by himself. She went over and sat right next to him. “How was your job with Juvia?”

“A nightmare.” Gray sighed. His arm went around Lucy’s waist on its own and he felt tension he didn’t even know he had leave his body. “I really should have known better then to go without anyone else there. I just really didn’t think we needed a chaperone.”

Lucy leaned against him, meaning it to be a friendly show of support. “You’ve never seen her room at Fairy Hills. It’s full of Gray dolls. She even sleeps with one.”

Gray looked at her horrified. “I wish I could believe you were joking.”

“You’re going to have to give her a straight answer one day. You know that, right.”

Gray sighed and rubbed his face with his free hand. He was unwilling to move his arm from Lucy’s waist. “Yeah, I just don’t know what to tell her.”

“Just tell her the truth.” Lucy offered.

“I don’t want to hurt her, Lucy.” Gray knew he was being a coward but he could still remember when he first met Juvia. She had always been strange and she had been in love with him from the moment she saw him, but he remembered how she looked after their fight. When she had seen the blue sky for the first time she had been so happy. There was a genuine smile on her face even though she had just lost. She had been happy perhaps for the first time ever, and he didn’t want to be the person to take the sky away from her.

Lucy put her arm around him in a sideways hug. She wanted to reassure him but wasn’t sure how to go about it. “You could give her a chance.” Lucy heard the words come out of her mouth, in her voice, but she couldn’t believe she was saying them.

“I’ve tried, I really have. I just ….” Gray covered his face with both is his hands. “I can’t. She’s just … not right for me.” Gray couldn’t think of how to put what he was thinking into words. He and Juvia worked amazing together from a magic standpoint but everything else was a mess. When they would fight they were in perfect sync, more than once now they had pulled off a unison raid. Outside of battle, she would drive him crazy. He hated the way she looked up to him, agreeing with everything he said or did. Her jealous behavior was probably the biggest turn off for him. He had tried talking to her, more than once, but he just couldn’t get her to understand.

“So how was your job with Natsu?” Gray asked, trying to change the subject. Lucy was merciful and allowed it. She told him about the trip to Mount Hakobe and how Natsu had gone over the top on a pack of Vulcan. Gray relaxed again as he heard her talk, his arm going back around her waist.

After that things seemed to go back to how they had been a few days before. Lucy had enough money saved up for rent for the next few months and was planning to enjoy some free time to write her book. She would go to the guildhall almost every day and hang out. If Gray was there he would always be by her side and touching her as long as Natsu wasn’t there. He didn’t seem to mind if Erza or anyone else saw them but for some reason anytime Natsu was in the guildhall Gray would keep his distance. It kind of made Lucy glad they weren’t going on team jobs at the moment. There was tension between Gray and Natsu that was different from before.

When December came around Lucy found herself in a bind. Not only had she spent most of her money on rent and Christmas gifts for everyone, but S-Class trial selection was coming up. This was the first one since they had all disappeared seven years ago. That meant that most everyone was going on single person jobs and the request board was near empty of anything with a decent reward. For the last three days Lucy had been unable to find anything worth taking and today didn’t seem to be any different. With her head lowered she went to the bar and collapsed into a stool.

“I can’t believe this is happening again.” She whined as she laid her head on the bar.

“Not able to cover your rent again?” Mira asked with a sympathetic smile.

“Why does this always happen to me?” Lucy sighed, not even looking up at Mira. “Natsu said he had something lined up, but I haven’t seen him in days.”

“You could do a job without him.” Mira pointed out to her. “Everyone’s doing solo jobs right now.”

“We’re a team. I can’t just leave him.” She covered her head in her frustration.

Lucy felt a cool hand rub on her back, comfortingly. She knew in an instant it was Gray behind her. Not only was he the only human she knew to fell slightly cold, he was the only one in the guild that would touch her like that. “Well I guess he doesn’t feel the same way. I saw him leave a few days ago, saying something about a dragon sighting.” He told her.

“What? He just left?” Lucy sat up and leaned back on her stool, her head resting on his chest. He kept his hand resting on her back.

“If that’s true, we probably won’t see him again for weeks. You know how Natsu can get if her hears any mention of dragons.” Mira was still smiling as Lucy felt her world falling apart.

“Oh man … What about Erza?” Lucy asked. Erza was already S-Class and wouldn’t be caught up in all this craziness.

“She’s on a job with Cana. Master asked her to tag alone. I guess he is worried about what Gildarts might do if Cana got hurt.” Mira giggled to herself at the thought. “He has become the protective father.”

“Now what am I going to do? I’ll never be able to pay my rent.” She leaned even further back in her seat. She would have tipped over if Gray wasn’t behind her.

“You could come help me out on this.” Gray said as he handed her a job poster. It was asking for help at a birthday party. They were looking some wizards to help with entertainment and mild security. The reward was only 100,000 which wouldn’t cover her rent if they split it.

“I’d love to Gray but that’s not going to cover everything I need.” She sounded defeated.

“Don’t worry about it, I’m all set for this month, you take however much you need.”

“I … Thanks” She always felt guilty when the boys would help her out like this but it also made her feel good that she had friends that cared about her so much. “What about the S-Class trials, this won’t help you get a spot.”

“After what happened last time, I think I’ll sit them out this year.” Gray told her. Lucy couldn’t blame him, she wasn’t looking forward to going back to Tenrou Island any time soon. Gray registered the job with Mira and then said he was going to go pack and he would meet her at the train station in the morning. After she said goodbye to him she turned around to see Mira watching her with a mischievous smile on her face.

“Don’t even think about it Mira.” Lucy warned her.

“Think about what?” Mira said a little to innocently.

“You know what, Mira. It’s not going to happen. There is nothing happening.” Lucy could already feel a headache starting. Mira loved to try and play matchmaker. Currently she had been working on Gajeel and Levy but those two could be ridiculously stubborn at time. Everyone could see they liked each other but they were blind to it. Lucy was not about to let Mira start focusing on her love life.

“I wasn’t going to suggest anything.” Mira smiled and leaned her elbows on the bar. “But now that you mentioned it, you and Gray …”

“Gah!” Lucy laid her head on the bar and covered it with her hands. Maybe she could just hide from Mira and her laughter.

“What’s wrong Lu?” Levy asked as she walked over to save her friend. She had seen Gray over here and knew Mira must be playing match maker again.

“Not you too.” Lucy groaned as she looked at her friend.

“Is this about you and Gray? Have you made a move yet?” Levy was only meaning to playfully tease Lucy.

“Have you decided where you’re going on your date with Gajeel yet?” Lucy countered. Levy had recently asked Gajeel and Lily to help teach her how to fight. She was use to saving Jet and Droy on mission but since Gajeel and Lily have been tagging along they have been going on more dangerous jobs and she didn’t like having the boys save her.

Mira squeaked in excitement behind them. “You are going on a date?”

“No … not a date” Levy was waving Mira off before she could get started. Her face was turning three different shades of red. “It’s for training it is not a date. Date means food and drinking and … and …”

“And hot sweaty naked bodies?” Lucy offered. “Yup, won’t be any of that.” She couldn’t suppress her giggle.

“We will not be naked!” Levy shouted.

“Ya sound so sure of that, Shorty.” Gajeel said as he walked up and grabbed a mug Mira had placed on the bar. “Ruining all the fun before it starts.” He headed back over to his table but they could hear his laugh. Levy looked like she was about to die from embarrassment. Mira was grinning like that cat that caught the canary.

Levy sat down and took the water Mira offered, downing the whole glass. “Fine, make fun of me all you ladies want. I at least did something.”

“Training exercises isn’t something.” Lucy pointed out.

“It’s more then you’re doing.” She countered. “Come on, Lu. It’s clear that Gray is into you. Why don’t you ask him out?”

Lucy sighed. “I … We are part of a team. It would be weird.”

“There is Natsu to think about.” Mira agreed, “Not to mention Juvia.”

Lucy collapsed back onto the bar. “I didn’t even think about Juvia. She’s would kill me if she knew we were going on a job alone together.”

“We’ll cover for you.” Levy said before grabbing her bag. “I’ve got some training to go get too.” She said as way of a farewell.

“Give him a kiss from me.” Mira said with a cheerful smile as she waved goodbye to her. Lucy took the chance to sneak away and go back to her apartment and pack.

Lucy met Gray at the train station early the next day. The job was in Onibus and they had been requested to show up by two in the afternoon. That meant they had to take one of the earliest trains to make sure they were there in time. Lucy was not much of a morning person but this train ride was more enjoyable than most. For the first time they didn’t have a sick Natsu complaining the whole way or have a way to chipper Happy forcing her to interact with people. It was actually peaceful to sit alone with Gray and watch the countryside go past the window.

Gray knew that Lucy didn’t like being up early and so he was quiet for the first part of the trip. He sat sideways on the bench with his back against the window. He held her against his chest as she looked outside. She was in a constant state of half awake, half asleep that he found to be adorable. It was the first time he had been able to hold her like this. He had always wanted too but she had never allowed him to when people were around. It was just the two of them now and he planned to enjoy the oddly intimate moment.

It wasn’t until they reached Onibus station and found a café to grab lunch at before meeting the client that Gray told Lucy all the details of their job. They were hired as entertainment for a five-year-old girls birthday party and a Christmas party the family was having the following night. The job also said that they were wanted as security.

“Do you know why they would need security at a little girls birthday?” Lucy asked him.

“To keep out Lamia Scale.” Gray answered, his voice sounded slightly hallow. “The girl, her name is Alana, her mother was a member. Her grandfather hates the guild and wants to keep them far away from his granddaughter.”

“That’s awful. Why would he hate Lamia Scale if his daughter was a member?” Lucy could see a darkness in Gray’s eyes.

“The client is Alana’s paternal grandfather. His son had an affair with a woman named Athena, Alana was the result. For the first four years of her life, Alana’s father wanted nothing to do with her.” Gray explained to her. His body was tense. He had heard the whole story from Lyon and was taking this job as a favor to him.

“What changed? If he didn’t want anything to do with her than why is he having this party for her?” Lucy asked. She took Grays hand and squeezed it lightly to try and comfort him.

“Athena died while on a job just before the Grand Magic Games. The guild was looking after Alana after that. Jura had taken her into his home and was raising her as his own. Then, suddenly, after the games her father showed up at the guildhall and demanded he be allowed to take Alana home with him. They tried to fight it, of course, but he was her father and they had no legal way of keeping her from him. After that they weren’t allowed to see her, not even Jura. They have been trying to talk sense into the family but they won’t listen.” Gray sighed.

“That’s awful. Why would someone want to keep a child away from people that love them?” Lucy was outraged for Lamia Scale. If she had been a member of Fairy Tail she was sure the guild would have gone to all out war to get her back. She was impressed that Lamia Scale was handling things so well, no doubt in part because of Jura.

“He blames them for Athena’s death. Not that he cared about her or anything. He thinks that the same thing is going to happen to Alana. Thinks that wizards have no right to raise a child.” Gray took this as a person offence. Not only had Ur raised him after his parents had been killed but than Fairy Tail had taken him in. Was he maybe a little odd? Yes, but he was a good person. They had done a fine job raising him.

“That’s ridiculous. A child should be raised by people that love them.” Lucy managed to get a smile out of Gray. “So is this really like a rescue mission?”

“No. Lyon just asked that we make sure she is being treated well. They just want her to be happy.” Gray was impressed with how mature Lyon was being about the whole thing. “They also have a present they sent with me for her.”

“Well, let’s get going than. We have a little girl to take care of.” Lucy was all smiles as they headed out of town to the estate that they were meeting the client at. She was already working on a plan to reunite Alana with Lamia Scale. Lyon might have told Gray to check on the girl but Lucy wasn’t going to let her be torn away from the only family she knew so easily.


	3. Chapter 3

When they reached the estate, Lucy was immediately reminded of her home growing up. The mansion wasn’t as large and the estate was significantly smaller but it still had all the marks of high society. There were the well-kept grounds with gardeners hard at work, a large fountain out front that could easily have substituted as a swimming pool, they were even meet at the door by an old man in a suit, the butler. Lucy felt her skin crawling at being in such a place. She was grateful that Natsu wasn’t there though, he would have been freaking out and making everything more difficult for her. As it was, Gray took the lead with introductions.

“I’m Gray Fullbuster, this is Lucy.” Gray motioned to Lucy, leaving out her last name. He knew she hated being recognized as a Heartfilia. “We are here from Fairy Tail.”

“You’re late.” The butler said, looking down his nose at them. It was just now two o’clock, they were right on time. Lucy could already tell this was going to be a demanding client. “Follow me, the young mistress is this way. Gweneth here will take your bags to your room.”

A gray haired older lady in a maids outfit appeared next to them, holding her arms out for their bags. Lucy handed hers over and Gray politely told her he would hang on to his. The lady bowed and vanished as silently as she appeared. The butler then leads them down a number of hallways until they reached a large room that was full of toys, anything you could imagine. Sitting alone in the middle of the room was a little girl with long blonde hair wearing a purple dress.

“Daddy?” The little girl looked up when the door opened. Her big green eyes were huge with excitement but quickly the joy faded from them when she saw the two strangers standing there. She looked down and at a stuffed monkey she was holding, hugging it tight.

“Will her father be joining us?” Lucy couldn’t help but ask. Looking at this girl was like looking into a mirror. She could still remember when she tried to give her father a rice ball on her birthday years ago.

“The young lord is away on business at the moment. He will return tomorrow before the ball.” The butler informed them.

“What about the man who hired us?” Gray asked. “We normally meet with the client before starting a job.”

“Lord Angevin has fallen ill and is not to be disturbed.” The man said in a stern tone. “Mistress Alana will have her guest showing up in thirty minutes, please be ready for them.” With that, the man left them.

Lucy went over to Alana and kneeled next to her, looking at the stuffed monkey she was holding. “Does he have a name?” She asked. She noticed that Gary was over by a table in the middle of the room, messing around with something in his bag.

“Her name is Gracie.” Alana said, she spoke softly and didn’t look at Lucy.

“That’s a very pretty name. What type of games does Gracie like to play?” Lucy was trying her best to get the girl to open up. Alana just shrugged at her.

“Can Gracie do any magic?” Lucy only got a head shake in response. “Do you want to see some magic?”

Alana looked up at Lucy at that. She hadn’t seen any magic since her father had shown up and took her away from her family. She loved magic. She gave a tentative nodded at Lucy.

Lucy pulled out one of her keys and summoned Plue out. Alana squealed and hugged the shivering spirit. Gray came over to the two girls at that point. Lucy looked over at the table he had been at and noticed a communication lacrima was now set up and there was a wrapped box sitting there.

“A mutual friend of ours told me a little secret about you.” Gray said, kneeling in front of the girl like Lucy was.

“A secret?” Alana asked, she was looking wearily at Gary, not sure how she felt about him yet.

Gray brought his hands together and activated his magic, when he placed his hands on the ground he was able to form a foot-tall chimp that ran over and climbed up onto Alana’s shoulder. The little girl giggled and pet the ice monkey. Gray wasn’t very good at living ice, it wasn’t his style, but he had watched Lyon enough that he was able to do a decent job on a small scale. Lyon had told Gray that Alana really liked his type of magic.

“Ice magic! Uncle Lyon makes these big monkeys! They’re bigger then you! And so pretty!” Alana said excitedly. She suddenly gasped and covered her mouth before looking at the ground. “I’m sorry. I’m not suppose to talk about that …”

“You miss them, huh?” Lucy asked her. Alana nodded. She wasn’t supposed to talk about her old family, her daddy didn’t like it.

“Would you like to talk to them?” Gray asked her. She looked back up at him with huge, excited eyes again. Gray laughed and took that as a yes, going over to the communication lacrima and activating it. After just a few seconds Lyon’s face could be seen in the crystal.

“Uncle Lyon!” The girl yelled before running over to him. The ice monkey was still on her shoulder with it’s tail around her neck.

“Alana, I hope Gray is being nice to you.” Lyon said, smiling at her.

“Look what he made me.” She pointed at the monkey. “It’s not as good as yours though.” She added, making Lyon laugh. “You’re still going to teach me when I’m older, right, uncle Lyon?”

“Yeah, I promise.” Lyon said.

“Is that Alana?” It was Jura’s voice in the background. Lyon moved out of sight and Jura was in his place. “Happy birthday.”

“Jurry!” Alana showed off the monkey Gray had made again and told him about how Lucy could summon things with just her words. Jura asked about how she was doing and she told them about all the new things she had and how she got ice cream every day. After that it seemed like every member of the guild wanted to talk to her. Several minutes passed before Lyon was again talking to Alana.

“I’m older today.” Alana told him. “I’m already five. Does that mean you are going to come teach me magic now?”

Lyon had a sad look on his face. “Not now, but soon.” It wasn’t just words, it was a promise.

“We have a party to get ready for.” Gray said, signaling that they needed to say goodbye. “We can talk to them again later.”

“Can Jurry read me my bedtime story tonight?” Alana asked, looking hopefully at Gray.

“Sure thing.” It was Lyon who answered her. Alana squealed for probably the tenth time since she had started talking to the guild members of Lamia Scale. She said goodbye and kissed the lacrima crystal image of Lyon on the cheek. They crystal deactivated after that and Gray put it away.

After he had the lacrima put away he handed Alana the gift that had been sitting on the table. “This is from all your friends at Lamia Scale.” He told her. She was a lot more relaxed now and tore into the gift. There were two books. One was a story book that apparently was one of her favorites judging by the excited reaction. The second was a photo album with pictures of her with her mother or the guild members.

“I know it’s hard not being able to see your friends all the time.” Lucy said, looking at the photo’s with Alana. The little girls excitement had subdued when she saw them. “But they are always thinking about you and they will always be with you in your heart.”

Alana nodded like she understood. She than started pointing out all the different members of Lamia Scale to her. Lucy knew a good number of them but it was cute to hear the little girls nicknames for all of them. It was only a few minutes later when children started showing up. The same butler that greeted Lucy and Gray lead the children in and introduced them. Alana excitedly showed off Plue and her ice monkey to all the children.

Gray and Lucy were basically there as baby sitters. Once all the children where there and some what settled down, Gray and Lucy showed off a little of their magic. Gray showed off with his Maker-Magic while Lucy summoned Gemini to imitate different kids. There was cake and ice cream and lots of games to be played. It was far better than any birthday Lucy had while growing up. Eventually the party was over and the children all went home. Lucy’s spirits went back to the Celestial World and Gray’s ice faded away.

Gray and Lucy both went with Alana when it was her bed time and tucked her in. True to Lyon’s word, Gray set up the communication lacrima again next to her bed. When she was all tucked in they called up Jura and he read to her. It was the same story that she had been given earlier that day. Lucy laid in bed with her and held the book up for her to see as Jura read. It was strange to hear the wizard saint reading a story about a fairy tale princess who was lost in the woods and meet and assortment of animals that helped her find her way home. He even did different voices for each character. Alana had drifted to sleep before they reached the end of the story.

Gweneth showed them to where they would be staying for the night after Alana was asleep. It was right down the hall from Alana’s room. It had turned out to be a nearly perfect day. Lucy was impressed that Gray had, mostly, managed to keep his clothes on. His shirt had come off when he was showing off his magic for the kids but he had kept his pants on and redressed right after. Lucy had to admit that was better then an average day for him.

Lucy had been so lost in her thoughts she didn’t even realize that Gweneth had only showed them to one room with one bed before she disappeared again. That women could vanish almost as fast as Virgo. She looked around the room feeling slightly awkward. Sure, she had slept with Gray on missions before but there had always been Natsu and Erza there and that was before things had changed between them. She didn’t know what to do now.

“You can sleep in the bed, I’ll take the floor.” Gray offered, he could see that Lucy was uncomfortable. He had already stripped down to his boxers. Lucy laughed a little to herself at that. _He just couldn’t wait to get naked_ She thought to herself. Lucy wasn’t really going to complain if it meant she could let her eyes wonder a little bit.

“No, It’s fine.” Lucy told him. She already felt guilty about the fact she was taking more than her share of the reward, she couldn’t make him sleep on the floor too. “I trust you to behave. It’s not like you’re Natsu or something.”

Gray chuckled at that and smiled at her. Lucy felt her heart stop for a second and she was suddenly nervous. She quickly picked up her bag. “I’m going to wash up before bed.” She said and retreated to the bathroom.

Lucy was nervous about sharing a bed with Gary but just kept reminding herself it wasn’t a big deal. They were friends, just friends. They were going to be sleeping, just sleeping. So why did her heart keep racing?

She took her time in the shower and then putting on her pajamas. She was hoping Gray might be asleep when she went back into the room. She was not that lucky. Gray was in bed and sitting against the headboard when she came out of the bathroom. He was still bare-chested and had the blankets pulled up over his lap.

“There better be clothes under that blanket.” She warned him.

Gray pulled back the blanket in both an invite for her to join him and to show he was still wearing his boxers. “I’m not a pervert, you know.”

“Could have fooled me.” Lucy teased as she climbed into the bed with him. She tried to keep distance between them but Gray put his arm around her as he laid down. He pulled her closer to him so she was laying with her head on his shoulder. The position made Lucy blush and her heart was racing again but she felt if she moved away it would make things more awkward.

“You were amazing with Alana today.” Lucy told him, needed some noise to fill the silence in the room.

“Yeah, but all the kids loved you.” Gray smiled at her. “You’ll make a good mother one day.”

“Thank you …” Lucy could feel how hot her face was, especially given how cool Gray’s skin was. She thought about moving away from Gray, this was the behavior that made everyone think that they were a thing. Gray seemed to sense this and his arm tightened around her.

“Lucy, I lo … I’m happy you came on this job with me.” Gray said quietly. Lucy just caught his blush before he turned off the light and said goodnight. Lucy was exhausted after the long day and feel asleep quickly. That night Lucy dreamed about being a mother to black haired, brown eyed children with a habit for stripping.

The next day, Lucy and Gray were kept very busy. They were expected to help set up for the party and keep Alana entertained. Lucy summoned Plue to play with Alana and she would join them when she was able. Gray was setting up elaborate ice sculptures around the ball room and in the attached gardens. Alana and Lucy were both impressed with the amount of detail that he was able to get into them. While his animals didn’t move they still looked like they could come to life at any moment.

Alana’s father returned home around lunch time. He had retreated to his study and they were under orders not to disturb him, not even Alana could. It turned out he was some big diplomat and as such there would be important people from all over the continent coming to the ball that evening. Lucy wanted to get a chance to talk to the man about Alana, especially after seeing her interacting with Lamia Scale the day before. She had been hoping to do so before the ball but didn’t get a chance.

Lucy summoned Lyra before the guest started to arrive. She was going to have the spirit play the music for the night and she was excited to do so. Lucy also summoned Loke, she figured it would give the illusion that they were taking security seriously, and Loke would keep the women entertain for the night. It had been a while since Loke had been to Earthland to enjoy himself. She left him and Lyra alone to get the final things settled as she put Alana to bed and got ready for the night. She had got the communication lacrima from their room and, after tucking her in to bed, left her with the whole of Lamia Scale reading her bedtime stories.

Lucy met Gray outside the ballroom as the guest were starting to arrive. Gray was wearing a white suit not to different from what Juvia envisioned for their wedding. Lucy giggled when she saw him, he was pulling at his sleeves and looked like he wanted to pull the whole thing off. She caught his attention and his mouth dropped when he saw her. Lucy was wearing an ice blue ball gown, the gown sparkled in the light with every movement she made. The dress was strapless and she had a white lace shawl over her shoulders.

“I had a feeling you would be in white, so I tried to match.” Lucy told him, a blush colored her cheeks as he continued to stare, openmouthed.

“You … You look beautiful” He finally managed to stutter out. He took her arm and lead her into the ball room. Loke was already starting to flirt with the guest while Lyra played music that fit the room perfectly.

It was over an hour into the night before Lucy spotted Mr. Angevin talking with some men off to one side of the room. He was a man in his early thirty’s with light brown hair. He was wearing an expensive suit and carried himself like a man raised in high society. Lucy made her way over to him. She curtsied to him before she spoke. “Excuse me, Mr. Angevin, can I have a moment of your time.”

“Who are you?” He asked, all but looking down his nose at the women he didn’t know.

“My name is Lucy Heartfilia. I have something important I would like to discuss with you.” Lucy smiled as the use of her full name got her the response she wanted. Mr. Angevin excused himself from his conversation and lead Lucy to a more private area of the ballroom.

“What is it you would like to discuss with me?”

“It’s about your daughter, Alana.” Lucy told him.

“How do you know about her?” He had gone to some deal of effort to keep Alana a secret. It didn’t look good for a diplomate to have children scattered around from women they barely knew. Most people thought she was an orphan he had graciously taken in.

“I’m one of the mages you hired for her birthday. I’m also good friends with Lamia Scale.” Lucy told him. She gave it a moment for her words to sink in before she continued. “The way you are treating her is wrong. I know, my father treated me the same way. You can’t just show up in her life after five years and take her away from the only family she has ever had. You also can’t just shove her in a room with toys and expect that to make her happy. You have a lovely daughter who wants to grow up to be a wizard just like her mother. I don’t know why you decided to suddenly have an interest in her and I don’t really care. Every single member of Lamia Scale loves Alana because they are family. I’m not saying you should send her back to them, but you can’t just cut them out of her life. It’s not fair to any of them.”

“Who do you think you are? Telling me how to raise my child.” His face was red with anger.

“I’m the one who’s warning you. It’s much safer to have a wizard saint as a friend instead of an enemy.” Lucy didn’t wait for an answer, she turned her back and walked away. She was sure Makarov was going to get a complaint and there was a good chance they wouldn’t get paid for this, but if anything, she said changes things for Alana it would be worth it.

Gray knew Lucy had been up to something when she approached Mr. Angevin. He knew she had done something when she came over to him with a smile on her face. Mr. Angevin was watching them now and Gray figured they should be on good behavior the rest of the night. When Lucy reached him, he held out his hand to her and asked her to dance.

“You can dance?” Lucy asked in mock surprise as she took his hand.

“Not well,” He admitted, “but Loke taught me a little.”

Lucy covered her mouth to try and suppress a laugh at the mental image. “You danced with Loke? I didn’t know you went that way, Gray.”

“It’s not like that!” Gray said quickly, Lucy couldn’t hold in her laughter anymore. “He taught me so we could … you know … pick up girls and what not.” Gray rubbed the back of his neck, looking really embarrassed.

“Oh” she looked at the floor for a second before looking up at him with a smile, “Then let’s see how good you are.”

He smiled back at her and took her to the dance floor. He wasn’t half bad at dancing, Loke was better, Natsu would be worse. He felt Lucy relax into the rhythm with him as she laid her head on his shoulder. He held her close as the swayed to the love song that Lyra was playing. When it had ended he stood there holding Lucy close staring at her. Lucy could feel the tension in the air growing between them. She couldn’t breathe as Gray leaned down closer to her, their faces barely an inch apart. His eyes were focused on her lips and she knew he was going to kiss her. Lucy knew she move back but she wanted him to kiss her.

Suddenly he was gone, moving back a good foot from her. “I need to get some air.” He said and disappeared before she could say anything.

“Who does he think he is?” She asked herself. You can’t just look at a girl like that and then run away. She should have been the one running away. She wasn’t about to let him get away with that. She went off after him.

Lucy found Gray in the garden looking up at the stars. Her frustration faded away when she saw him. He had stripped off her jacket and shirt, standing there bare-chested. Lucy had learned during her time with Gray, more so in the last few months, that he would strip like this when his emotions were high. It was some weird safety measure, some people chewed their fingers, some paced, Gray stripped. Lucy went to stand next to him and looked at the stars. They were the only two people in this area of the garden. Neither of them said anything for a long while.

“Do you love Natsu?” Gray asked suddenly. Lucy was equally startled by the sudden noise and the question.

“Do you really want me to answer that?” Lucy asked in return, trying to buy time.

“I need to know, Lucy.” Gray had turned to look at her.

Lucy sighed, she couldn’t bring herself to look at Gray as she answered but she could feel his eyes on her. “If I’m being honest with myself, yes, I love Natsu. I know he can be hot-headed at times and is completely oblivious most of the time, but he is also very caring. He is the one who brought me to Fairy Tail and changed my life. He has always been there for me.” She turned to look at Gray and could see the hurt in his eyes.

“But it wasn’t Natsu I was just dancing with.” Lucy continued and she saw confusion and a little hope in Gray’s eyes. “It wasn’t him that I wanted to kiss me a minute ago. It’s not his touch that I miss when it’s gone. I might love Natsu, but I think I love you too, Gray. I know that’s not fair, to either of you. That’s why I’ve never said anything. If you were to ask me to choose one of you right now, I don’t think I would be able to. I know that makes me a bad person but I can’t help it. I don’t want to hurt either of you.” Lucy closed her eyes and she started crying. She had never put words to her feeling and now that she had it made everything seem more real.

Gray leaned in and brushed his lips against her, causing Lucy’s eyes to fly open in surprise and her tears to stop. “I know I love you, Lucy. I’m willing to wait for you to figure things out. And if you decide you love Natsu, I’ll be happy for you. That’s all I want, is for you to be happy, even if that means you’re not with me.”

Gray was smiling at her and Lucy knew he meant every word he said. She tried to find the words to express how much his words meant to her but she couldn’t think of any. “Gray … Thank you.”

They stood there and looked at the stars for a few more minutes before Gray got dressed and the went back inside. If Lucy thought things might have been awkward now, she would have been wrong. They danced a few more times during the night until the party was over. Lucy thanked Lyra before closing her gate. Loke had disappeared at some point during the night and Lucy couldn’t feel his pull on her magic power. That meant he either returned to the Celestial world or he was now using his own power to stay here, if it was the latter than he most likely picked up a girl.

Lucy barely made it out of her clothes and into pajamas before she was passed out in bed, in Gray’s arms again. They had to say goodbye to Alana in the morning, her father was no where to be seen. They were both sad to leave her and she made them promise to visit her soon. Lucy had promised they would and she was not someone who broke promises.

Lucy laid in Gray’s arms on the train ride home. As they got closer to Magnolia, a feeling of dread started to form in Lucy’s stomach. The last few days had seemed magical even with all the bumps along the way. Something huge had changed between her and Gray and it was just now starting to hit her. Lucy suddenly sat up and gave Gray a light kiss. When she tried to pull away he stopped her and deepened it slightly. He lightly bit her lower lip as she moved away.

“What was that for?” He asked her.

“Just felt like I needed to do that before we got back to reality.” Lucy admitted, suddenly feeling really embarrassed. Gray just smiled at her and pulled her back to her spot against his chest. Neither of them mentioned the kiss or said a single word the rest of the trip home.


	4. Chapter 4

Neither Gary nor Lucy said anything about their conversation in the garden or the kiss on the train once they got back to Magnolia. Lucy had been planning to talk to Levy about it but that didn’t go to plan. When Lucy found Levy the day she got back the bluenette was having her own problems. Apparently training with Gajeel didn’t go to plan. He had spent most of the day subtly insulting her. Levy had got so frustrated at him she had shouted at him, told him is she was so useless he should just bolt her to a tree again. She hadn’t meant it, she had long forgiven him for it, but she had been angry and just lashed out at him. Gajeel and Lily had left town immediately after with no word of where they were going.

Lucy decided that a girls day was in order after hearing her friends story. They went to their favorite bookstore and hit some clothes shops. Lucy didn’t have any extra money to spend on anything but just the time out with her friend seemed to do them both some good. Neither talked about their boy problems and by the end of the day Lucy had forgot all about her issues with Gray.

S-Class trials came and went, Freed was the newest S-Class wizard of Fairy Tail. There was the yearly Christmas party that was full of drinking and fighting, a typical Fairy Tail party. Things finally settled down after the new year started. Gajeel had yet to return but the master had been in touch with him and told Levy not to worry about it. Gray was still being his normal self around Lucy and Lucy found it strange how normal it felt. She had expected things to be awkward after their mission or for Gary to keep his distance now, but it was like nothing had happened.

They started going on team missions again after the new year. Natsu had returned from his unsuccessful dragon hunt and Erza was finished with the trials. Gray kept his distance from Lucy during their jobs and she knew it was because of Natsu. Not that Natsu understood what the term ‘personal space’ meant. Lucy found herself becoming more and more frustrated with Natsu as time went on. While on one job, Lucy found herself venting to Erza in their hotel room.

“I can’t believe Natsu! He drives me crazy sometimes!” Lucy was pulling off the remains of her ruined clothes, thank you Natsu, and throwing them on the floor.

“Would you like me to punish him for you, Princess?” Virgo asked from where she was standing next to Lucy with a pile of new clothes for her.

“No, Virgo, but thank you.” Lucy said as she took the clothes.

“Natsu can be a handful.” Erza said, a small smile on her face. “But he means well.”

“I think he is _trying_ to burn my clothes off half the time.” Lucy sat on the bed after she was dressed and Virgo had disappeared.

“Are you sure he’s not?” Erza asked, making Lucy blush.

“At this point … no.” Lucy admitted. “Why do boys have to be like this.”

“Perhaps you should talk to him.” Erza suggested.

“Yeah, like how you talk with Jellal?” Lucy didn’t mean to snap at Erza. She had been meaning for it to be a playful tease at the confusing relationship Erza had with her, once psychotic murder turned good guy, old friend. Lucy’s frustration had twisted her words and she knew she hurt Erza’s feeling when the warrior women stiffened.

“I merely meant you should tell him about your interest in Gray.” Erza said as she got up and headed to the bathroom to shower, leaving Lucy alone.

Lucy felt like she was tearing the team apart. Natsu and Gray were fighting more now than ever before. It was mostly started by Natsu but Gray wasn’t innocent either. Gray was carful with his behavior around Natsu, but the Dragon-Slayer could tell something was up. Their fighting lead to more tension with Erza who hated watching the two fight. Now Lucy was starting to drive a wedge between her and Erza. The red-head knew almost everything about Lucy and Gray’s relationship so she didn’t understand why Lucy wasn’t making it official. She didn’t know about Lucy’s conflicting feelings for Natsu.

Lucy had been spending a lot of time trying to sort out her feelings. Natsu was her best friend, and a good person. He always knew how to make her laugh and how to drive her crazy. He brought her to Fairy Tail, gave her a family that loved her as much as she loved them. He was always trying to protect her and look after her, even if he was the one that caused the trouble in the first place. She wasn’t sure what she would do without Natsu.

Gray was so similar to Natsu but completely different at the same time. Where Natsu would charge into a fight in front of Lucy, Gray was at her side. He was there to support her, not fight her battles for her. Natsu always made jokes about her being fat or not attractive, Gray never did. Gray worried about her modesty and she often ended up wearing his jacket after Natsu destroyed her clothes. Gray took an interest in her life and the stories she would write, he knew almost as much about them as Levy. Just thinking about Gray would make her heart race and give her butterflies in her stomach. Lucy could live without Gray, but she didn’t want to.

It wasn’t until that moment she even noticed how she was comparing Natsu to Gray and she preferred Gray every time. Natsu was her best friend and Lucy finally was starting to figure out that her feelings for Natsu were that of a friend. Her feelings for Gray were much more than just friendly. Now that she had this information, she wasn’t sure what to do with it.

When they got back to Magnolia everyone was getting ready for Valentines day. Evergreen and Elfman had made plans together, both swearing they didn’t know it was Valentines day. Lisanna had asked Natsu if he wanted to go out to dinner, Natsu was oblivious to the holiday but excited about free food, agreed. Mira had plans but she didn’t say with who or what the plans were. Wendy had been asked out by Romeo and Cana encouraged her to go. Erza didn’t care much for the holiday and planned to spend it sharpening her weapons. Juvia claimed to have a date planed with Gray, he had no knowledge of this. Cana, Levy, and Lucy were the only girls at the guild without plans, so they decided to have an anti-valentines party at Lucy’s house.

The girls did facials, manicures and pedicures and a lot of drinking. Cana had brought the wine over and she had brought barrels. The three of them had already finished the first one, most of it was drunk by Cana, when they gathered around to gossip.

“We are a sad group.” Cana pointed out, pouring each of them a new glass of wine.

“I can’t believe I chased Gajeel out of town. It’s been two months.” Levy complained, taking the glass.

“You just hurt his poor ego or something, he will be back. It could be worse.” Lucy tried to comfort her.

“Oh, how?” Levy groaned, drinking most of her glass in one gulp.

“You could have told him you were in love with someone else. Still trying to figure out how to take that back.” Lucy said it offhandedly but both girls were shocked.

“You what?!” They both asked, “Who?”

Lucy felt herself blushing and it wasn’t just from the wine. She had thought she had told Levy about this but apparently it had slipped her mind. “I might have told Gray I was in love with Natsu?” She phrased it like a question and tried to look innocent.

“Why would you do something stupid like that?” Cana asked her.

“Oh, Lu …” Levi gave her a sympathetic look.

“He asked and I thought … I don’t know. I thought I felt that way … maybe?” Lucy sighed and finished her glass, Cana quickly refilled it. “I was an idiot and now I don’t know how to take it back.”

“You both are so lucky to have me.” Cana smiled at them. “I’m here to fix all your problems.”

“Please don’t” Lucy groaned. Cana’s relationship advice normally consisted of just getting the guy in bed.

“How are you going to fix things?” Levy was as suspicious as Lucy was but she was willing to try anything at this point. She missed Gajeel and even Jet and Droy were asking when he would be back.

“I happen to know a certain metal studded Dragon-Slayer came back to town today.” Levy perked up at Cana’s words. “Now, if it was me, I would head over to his place and give him a reason to never disappear again.”

Levy blushed and looked over at Lucy. “I wouldn’t do what Cana is suggesting, but maybe try talking to him. He’s stubborn so you might just have to tell him how you feel.” Lucy told her.

“What if he doesn’t like me?” Levy had never been self-conscious around boys until Gajeel showed up. It helped that Jet and Droy were both obvious with their feelings for her and most of the guys she had dated in the past didn’t hide what they thought about her. Gajeel was new territory for her.

“He’s into you.” Cana reassured her. “He wouldn’t have gotten upset if he wasn’t.”

Levy thought that over. She was lost deep in her thoughts when Lucy placed her hand on her shoulder causing her to jump. “Don’t over think it. Just go over and see him.”

Levy was still nervous but with a little more encouragement from Lucy and Cana, along with another glass of wine, she was leaving to go talk with Gajeel. That left Lucy and Cana alone to drink their night away. Cana’s solution for Lucy’s problem was even simpler then Levy’s.

“Just tell him you want his Ice Pop and not Natsu’s Hot Sausage.” Cana had told her. Lucy had almost died of embarrassment and it took two glasses of wine before she could get the mental image out of her mind.

By the time Cana headed home for the night, Lucy was well past drunk. It wasn’t even that late when Cana had left, not yet midnight, but Cana had left in hope of picking a guy up. Lucy didn’t mind her leaving, she was tired and wanted sleep. Wine always made her sleepy and overly hot. She was one of those lucky people that reacted badly to any type of alcohol, it was the reason she didn’t drink much. Even now she felt like she was burning up but it was comfortable and fuzzy feeling. Lucy grabbed her clothes for bed and laid them out when she heard a knock on the door. When she stumbled her way to the door, it was Gray on the other side.

Gray had been unsure about going to see Lucy so late at night, but when he got to her apartment he saw the light on and headed up. He had forgot all about Valentines day until Juvia had shown up at the guild with homemade chocolates for him. It had taken hours for him to get away from her. He had gone home after he was free of Juvia and dug out the gift he had for Lucy. It hadn’t been purchased with Valentines in mind, he had just seen it earlier in the week and knew Lucy would love it, but if he could cash in on the holiday, why not. That’s how he found himself at Lucy’s door, just before midnight with a very drunk Lucy clinging to him.

“Gray!” Lucy squealed when she opened the door. She hugged her friend and sighed at how good his cool body felt against hers. “You feel good.” She hummed

“Lucy? Are you drunk?” Gray put his arms around her to help support the giggling girl as he moved into her apartment. He had never known Lucy to get drunk, she would have a drink or two on rare occasions, but never ger drunk. Her skin was flushed and felt like fire where it touched his skin. He could feel the heat through their clothes.

“A little.” She admitted before bursting into more giggles. “Maybe a lot”

Gray sighed, tossing the small box he had onto her couch before trying to pull her off him. “Let’s get you to bed.”

“No …” She whined at him. Her hands moved under his shirt and wrapped around his back. “You feel so good. I’m so hot.” She complained to him

Gray didn’t know what to do. He was having a hard time thinking with Lucy wrapped around him like she was. She had started planting messy kisses on his neck and chest. His shirt was gone now, damn thing had a mind of its own. Lucy was apparently a happy cuddly drunk.

“Why don’t we both go to bed?” Gray offered. Lucy turned even more red and burst into another fit of giggles against his chest. Gray moved them over to the bed and Lucy fell back onto it. She immediately pulled off her shirt but Gray stopped her before she could get started on her skirt.

“Lucy, no.” Gray spoke to her in a gentle but firm voice. He didn’t want to upset her but he had for get through the fog the alcohol caused. “We are going to lay down, I’ll help cool you down, and you are going to sleep. That’s all.”

Lucy whimpered and leaned into him, moaning lightly when her bare skin met his. “But I want you, Gray. Only you.”

“You don’t mean that. You’ll feel better in the morning.” Gray told her. He was trying to get her pajama top on her. She was nuzzling his chest but otherwise cooperating.

“I do mean it. I don’t want Natsu, or Loke, or anyone but you.” She looked up at him with tears in her eyes. The warm cuddly feeling was starting to fade as Gary’s body cooled her down. “I love you, only you.”

Gray couldn’t stop himself, he leaned in and captured her lips with his. He only meant got it to be a gentle kiss and he kept Lucy from making it anything more. Those were the words he had been wanting to hear for months now. It was everything he had wanted, if only she had been sober then he would have been happy to do everything her body was begging him to do. As it was, she wasn’t sober and he wasn’t even sure she would remember this all in the morning. He reluctantly pulled back from her.

“Let’s finish getting you ready for bed.” He said. It took a little effort, but he got her into her pajama and made her drink some water before he tucked her into bed. She was passed out the moment her head touched the pillow.

Lucy woke up late in the morning, or early in the afternoon, depending on how you looked at it. She couldn’t remember much of the night before after the girls came over but she had a feeling she had done something embarrassing. She was lucky in the fact she didn’t really get hangovers. She would sleep through the worst of the after affects and just woke feeling groggy. When she got up and stretched she noticed she was in her pajamas. _That’s strange, I don’t remember changing_ she thought. It wasn’t until she got out of bed she noticed she wasn’t alone. Gray had made himself comfortable on her couch and was reading one of the books she had given up on writing, and, of course, he was mostly naked.

“Gray! It’s bad enough you’re in my place uninvited, but do you have to be naked!” she yelled at him before she snatched the papers out of his hand. “And who said you could read this?”

“Hey!” That got his attention as he tried to grab it back. “That was really good.” He didn’t seem to see any problem with him loafing around Lucy’s house in just his boxers. “And you did invite me, last night.”

“Last night?” Immediately her mind went crazy with all the things that might have happened between the two of them that she couldn’t remember. She must have looked horrified because he was nice enough to put her out of her misery.

“Don’t worry, nothing happened. I’m not the type to take advantage of a situation like that.” He moved over so she would have room to sit next to him. “I may have helped you get dressed though” he added after she had relaxed.

“You what!” She shouted at him, causing Gray to laugh.

“What did you come over last night for?” She asked after she had calmed down again and he had stopped laughing at her.

“It was Valentine’s Day. I got you something.” He was a bit embarrassed about it now and he held a little box out to her.

“Gray, you didn’t have to get me anything. I mean it’s not like we are anything more than friends.” She told him as she took the box.

“You’re more than a friend to me, Lucy. A lot more.” He told her, dead serious.

Lucy blushed as she opened the box. Inside was a silver gate key. On the handle was a three-star constellation the formed a triangle. Lucy immediately started laughing when she saw it.

“What is it? Don’t tell me it’s a fake or something. I had no idea what I was doing but the guy swore it was real and that it was one of a kind.” Gray was freaking out, thinking he might have done something wrong.

“Do you know what this is? It’s Leo Minor.” Lucy was still smiling as she picked up the key. “The little lion, I wonder if there’s any connection.”

Gray sighed in relief. “That’s why I got it. When I learned it was the little lion it just … seemed … right.”

Lucy smiled at him before she nervously kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you. And I didn’t get you anything.”

“I got what I wanted last night.” He said with a smile.

Lucy again wondered what had happened the night before but pushed it aside. “Want to see what they look like?” she asked him.

“Sure.” He shrugged.

“I summon you to my side. Open Gate of the Little Lion.” Lucy called out to the room as she waved her new key. A little girl appeared before them. She looked to be nine or ten years old. She had brown red hair that was in tight curls that had been put into pigtails. She was wearing a blue dress and matching shoes.

“Hello, my lady” The young Sprit said with a curtsy.

“Awe you’re so cute!” Lucy said excitedly. “Should we work on our contract?”

Gray watched Lucy and the girl for a little while. Working out a contract with a Celestial Spirt was tedious but important so Gray didn’t bother Lucy. After a while he went back to reading the story he had started while she had been sleeping.

“All done” Lucy said when they finished. Despite her young appearance this spirt and seemed to be very polite and, honestly, normal. “Oh, I didn’t catch your name, what should I call you.”

“I’m Lionetta” The girl said. “And what should I call you, My Lady?”

“Oh, I’m Lucy.” She smiled and held her hand out to the girl.

Lionetta shrieked in delight and jumped on Lucy, hugging her tight. “You’re Lucy! I have heard so much about you! You’re the one that saved Daddy!”

“Daddy?” Lucy and Gray asked at the same time.

“Yeah, Leo the Lion.” She told them.

Lucy and Gray looked at each other. “Did you know he had a daughter?” Lucy asked Gray.

“No, how would I know?” Gray had never heard anything about Loke having a family. “Can Celestial Spirts have children?”

“I don’t know.” Lucy was confused.

“Excused me, Lady Lucy?” Lionetta asked politely acting like she had not just tackled Lucy. “Would it be possible for me to see my Daddy? I haven’t seen him in a long time.” Lionetta looked up at her with big pleading eyes.

“Sure, I have some questions for him.” There was a hint of threat in her voice when she summoned Loke.

“Lucy, it’s been too long. You might give a guy the wrong idea.” Loke put his arm around her shoulder once he appeared.

“Daddy!” Lionetta jumped onto Loke like she had with Lucy, knocking him to the ground.

“Lionetta? What are you doing here?” Loke was trying to pry the little girl off of him but she refused to let go.

“Lucy is my new master. Isn’t this wonderful Daddy? We get to be together again.” She was grinning with her arms around his neck. Gray was trying not to laugh as Loke struggled with the little girl. Lucy was rubbing her forehead like a headache was starting.

“You never told me you had a daughter, Loke. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised with all the girls you had chasing after you.” Gray said, not able to keep the laughter out of his voice.

“I can’t have children.” He told them. Loke was clearly not amused by the situation at all. He finally managed to pry Lionetta off. “I’m not your father! Why are you always behaving like this Lionetta!” He scolded her.

“But … You’re Leo and … and I’m the little lion … that means you’re … you’re my daddy.” Lionetta could barely get the words out before she burst into tears at his rejection.

“Oh man, don’t be like that.” Loke was looking around, flustered.

Lucy got down and hugged the crying spirt, wiping her tears away. “Don’t let him upset you. Loke still has a lot to learn about how to treat a lady.”

Loke made a noise like he was insulted as Lionetta brushed away the last of her tears. “He is my Daddy, right?”

“Of course, he is.” Lucy told her. She gave a warning look to Loke that he better keep his mouth shut. Lionetta smiled and hugged Lucy. “Why don’t you head back now, I need to have some grown-up talk.”

Lionetta giggled. “Just because I look like a kid doesn’t mean I am one. I know what happens when Daddy is alone with girls.” All three adults in the room looked very uncomfortable. “You play leap frog!”

Everyone let out a relived sigh. “How you play with three people though I don’t understand. Do you take turns? If so who goes first?” Lionetta started asking herself.

“That’s enough of that” Lucy said as she waved the key to close Lionetta’s gate. “That was … interesting.” She said to herself.

“Want to play leap frog?” Loke asked in a suggestive tone in Lucy’s ear, causing her to jump.

“You’re such a pervert!” She snapped as she jumped away from him, waving his key in the air. “You can go away too.” She closed his gate as well.

Gray was laughing on the couch as Lucy collapsed onto it. He put his arm around her and pulled her against him.

“They are going to be a handful. And here I thought you had picked up a nice, normal spirt.” She sighed and put her arm around him, curling up into his side. She fit nicely there and it felt natural to be held like this with him.

“I didn’t mean to cause you more problems.” He rested his chin on the top of her head.

“Gray, you’re still naked” Lucy pointed out as she noticed that she was on his bare chest.

“Does it bother you?” He asked.

Lucy blushed lightly. She could feel him looking at her, waiting for an answer. In truth it didn’t bother her, it hadn’t bothered her for a while. She wasn’t sure when she had stopped caring if he was wearing his clothes or not, but now it just seemed normal for him to be undressed around her. She couldn’t tell him that though. “A bit.” She said as she moved away from him.

Gray had a feeling she was lying, especially after last night, but he didn’t question it as he got up and put his clothes back on. After he was dressed he sat back down with Lucy but she didn’t snuggle back up to him.

“What happened last night?” She asked him. She had been thinking about it all day, even when working out her contract with Lionetta. She could remember bit of things here and there but it was still fuzzy.

“You talked a lot. Said some things you probably wouldn’t if you were sober. Then you passed out and I put you to bed.” He said matter-of-factly.

“Then how did I end up dressed like this?” She asked, feeling like he was hiding something.

“I already told you, I dressed you.”

“So, you undressed me while I was passed out and nothing happened?” she was watching him closely.

Gray blushed lightly, aware that he was caught. “Ok, maybe you did a little more than talk. But I swear that nothing happened.”

Lucy was looking at her hands in her lap. “I know you’re not like that Gray. I just feel like something huge happened and I can’t remember anything. I don’t like not knowing.”

Gray pulled her into his arms again. “You don’t need to worry about it. I know you were drunk and saying things that you didn’t mean or didn’t want to say. I ‘m not going to hold anything you said against you. We can just both forget about it.”

Lucy was quiet as she thought that over. If he was willing to forget about what happened, maybe she could too. There was just one thing that was still bothering her. “Gray, what are we? What is this thing we are doing?”

“We’re friends, teammates. Just like we have always been.” There was a note of sadness in his voice. He wanted more than that, Lucy knew that. Did she want that too? Were they already started down a road they couldn’t turn back from?

“I should head home. It’s getting late.” Gray said. It was dark outside the windows. “Make sure you get something to eat.”

“We could have dinner together.” Lucy suggested when Gray got up. “Just give me a minute to change.”

Lucy grabbed a change of clothes and headed into the bathroom to get dressed. She wasn’t ready to see Gray leave yet. She liked him being around and his gift had been so thoughtful. She hugged her new key to her chest. Lionetta was a little strange and but Lucy loved having a new key and maybe she could help with things between the little spirt and Loke. Gray had also helped her out last night when she was drunk and alone. She owed him and taking him out to dinner seemed like a good way to repay him. It’s not like it was a date or anything.


	5. Chapter 5

Lucy took Gray to a small café not far from her apartment. It was one of her favorite places to go and eat. It was a small, quiet place but the cake they served was some of the best in town, even Erza thought so. Lucy had Virgo and Cancer help her get ready for what was quickly turning into a date. Virgo had put her in a halter dress that started black and faded to pale blue by the end of the skirt which hit her just above the knees. Cancer had left her hair down with light curls that framed her face. Lucy had been happy to see the stunned look on Gray’s face when she came out of the bathroom.

Gray was still watching Lucy like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. She was always beautiful but he had never expected her to dress up for dinner with him. He never expected him to be eating dinner with her outside of the guildhall without the rest of the team there. It was making him nervous, especially after her confession the night before. His nerves faded away when Lucy took his hand and lead him to this little café. They were now sitting at a table out front, Lucy leaning against his side with his arm around her shoulders.

Lucy was excitedly talking about Lionetta, who was apparently a healer spirit. Gray was happy to see her excited over something he had done. Lucy had the best smile he had ever seen and he could listen to her excited babble all day as long as she was smiling at him. Gray would fully admit he started to zone out, watching her as she talked. There was soft music coming from inside the café and there were lanterns giving off a romantic glow around them that was reflected in Lucy’s bright brown eyes.

“Gray? Are you listening?” Lucy asked when she noticed he stopped responding to her comments.

“Honestly, I was lost in thought.” He looked a little embarrassed at getting caught.

“Thoughts about what?” Lucy moved herself closer to him, her arm sliding around his waist.

“Wither this count as a date or not.” He said as he tucked a stand of her hair behind her ear. It was really feeling like a date to him and he wanted her to think it was. They had been dancing around this for months and after last night he didn’t want to be just friends anymore. He wanted dates with Lucy, wanted to spend time with her, kiss her, do whatever he had to keep her smiling.

Lucy blushed but didn’t look away from Gray. “What if it is?”

“Then I can do this …” Gray leaned down and pressed his lips against hers. Lucy had been expecting the kiss and met him halfway. Lucy was the one who deepened the kiss, she was the one to run her tongue over his lip, asking for more. Lucy hadn’t kissed many guys, in fact Gray was one of two, but he helped her. Gray cupped Lucy’s face, angling it so their lips sealed together, his tongue guided her but he didn’t take over. He was going to let her learn, explore. The kiss was slightly awkward and clumsy but Lucy was in control, she was the one that wanted this.

 _I don’t want Natsu, or Loke, or anyone but you. I love you, only you._ The memory from last night came back to Lucy as she was kissing Gray. It startled her and she pulled back with a slight gasp. It was probably for the best seeing she had forgotten that air was a thing people needed to live and her lungs were now happy to remind her as she greedily sucked in air. Gray looked to be just as short of breath as she was.

“I remembered something.” Lucy said when she was able to form a full sentence again. “From last night. And I meant it … What I said … About Natsu.”

Gray pulled her into a tight hug, kissing the top of her head. “I know you did. But I wouldn’t mind hearing it again.” He was smirking at her.

Lucy chuckled before placing a kiss to his cheek. “I love you, Gray Fullbuster, not anyone else.”

“And I love you.” He smiled at her and kissed her again.

The couple were fully enthralled in each other and didn’t notice the women watching them. The little blue haired water mage was hiding around the corner, spying on them. She always followed her Ice-Make mage everywhere he went. She had followed him to her Love-Rivals house the night before and he hadn’t left by morning. Now her beloved was kissing the blond tramp in front of everyone walking on the street. She could feel her body boiling. Her beloved would not be stolen from her and anyone who tried would pay.

The rest of Lucy’s night was borderline magical. She sat with Gray until it started to get cold. At that point he walked her back to her apartment. He gave her one last kiss goodnight before he left to go back to his own apartment. It ended up being a prefect day in Lucy’s opinion. She was still all smiles when she went to the guild the following morning.

“You’re in a good mood.” Mira pointed out as she placed a strawberry shake on the bar in front of Lucy.

Lucy ginned up at her. “Yes, I am.” She wasn’t going to say anything more than that either. Her and Gray hadn’t talked about if they wanted to tell people or not and so she was going to keep it to herself until then.

“What has you so happy? Something with Gray?” Mira gave her a knowing look as she fished for information.

“I just got a new key. You know how happy that makes me.” She said and held up the key for Leo Minor.

Mira didn’t look convinced that was all there was but before she could investigate more Levy ran up to them. “Lu! Where were you yesterday?” The Script mage was nearly jumping with excitement.

“I was up drinking with Cana half the night. I had to take a day to recover.” Lucy smiled at her friend, silently thanking her for the distraction from Mira. “How did things go with Gajeel?”

Levy looked like she was going to explode from pure joy. “We’re officially dating!” she squealed as she hugged Lucy tight.

“That’s wonderful!” Lucy hugged Levy back, excited for her friend. “So, I take it you’re talk worked?”

“I did what you said and I just told him. He looked horrified at first and I thought I had messed up, but then he just kissed me.” Levy had the biggest smile Lucy had ever seen on her face even with the embarrassed blush on her cheeks. “I can’t believe it took so long.”

“How are Jet and Droy handling things?” Lucy asked. She didn’t want to ruin her friends mood, but she knew those two were obsessed with Levy and could cause problems for her. She still regretted asking when she saw the smile fade from Levy’s face.

“Droy is happy for me. He always knew there wouldn’t be anything between us. Jet … I’m hoping he comes around.” Levy said, looking over to where her teammates were waiting at their normal table.

“I’m sure he will, Levy. He’s your friend and once he sees how happy you are he will be happy for you.” Lucy was now giving her friend a reassuring hug.

“He can’t be too upset. He picked out a job for the five of you.” Mira said and handed Levy a copy of the flyer. It was a simple job to accompany an archeology group on a two-week trip. It was a group Levy had worked with before. They often hired her team to help them explore ruins and translate old texts they found there. This flyer specifically asked for team Shadowgear. “He told me to make sure I include Gajeel and Lily on any future request for your team.”

Levy smiled, looking back over at Jet and Droy. Jet still didn’t look like his normal happy self, but if he was including Gajeel in the team then maybe he wasn’t as upset as he seemed. “Thanks Mira, that’s great to hear.”

“I guess you better go find your boyfriend and head out on this job.” Lucy said, smirking a little at her.

Levy blushed at the word boyfriend. “You haven’t told me what happened after I left. Did you figure out your little problem?”

“What problem is that?” Mira asked sweetly, leaning over the bar to get closer to Lucy.

Lucy could feel how red her face was. “Yes, the problem is solved.” That was all she was going to say and luckily Natsu ran over to the group right then. He was holding a job flyer in his hand and shoved it at Lucy.

“Look at this cool job we found Lucy.” Happy said, flying next to Natsu.

Lucy looked at the flyer in her hand. It was a job to accompany cargo from Hargeon to northern Fiore. There wasn’t a train that ran that route and it could take weeks to go that far on foot or by cart. Natsu’s motion sickness would slow them down even more. It sounded like torture to Lucy, until she saw the reward.

“Two million Jewel?! Are they serious?” Lucy’s mind was already running wild with all the things she could buy with that kind of Jewel. That was a huge reward for what, over all, would be a simple job.

“I know, just to escort some stupid box across the country. Sounds great, doesn’t it Luce?” Natsu was grinning at her.

“I’ll tell Gray and Erza! This will be so easy.” Lucy’s already good mood was improving. Her part of the reward would cover her rent for over five months. Of course, she would spend some of that on shopping and maybe take a vacation. Maybe she could talk Gray into going to a beach resort with her or something. She wanted to get away from Magnolia and Fairy Tail with him for a little while so they could figure out their relationship. She wasn’t regretting anything but she wanted to start things off right with him and do it without their friends interfering.

“I was thinking me, you and Happy could handle this alone.” Natsu told her, breaking her out of her little day dream. “We don’t need Erza or the Ice Princess.”

Lucy didn’t like the idea of going on this job without Gray or Erza. It wasn’t just because she didn’t want to go on a month-long job with Natsu after just telling Gray how she felt. She also felt that, given the reward, this job wouldn’t be as simple as Natsu thought it was. “I don’t know, Natsu, we are a team, remember.”

“Yeah, Natsu. Besides Lucy looooooves Gray.” Happy teased, making kissy faces at Lucy.

“Shut up you stupid cat!” Lucy yelled, trying to smack Happy who flew out of her reach. “I just think things might get dangerous. It’s a long journey and having extra people wouldn’t be a bad thing.” Lucy told Natsu in a calmer voice.

“Yeah, fine, whatever.” Natsu shrugged. He had noticed how Lucy didn’t deny that she loved Gray like she normally would. Natsu wasn’t as oblivious as everyone thought he was. He could smell Gray all over Lucy all the time recently. He knew that something was going on with the two of them. Natsu liked Lucy, a lot, and it bothered him that she was hiding something from him. He had been hoping he might be able to talk to her on this job. A month alone with Lucy would have been nice. There had to be a chance in that time to tell her how he felt. Now she wanted to bring Erza and Gray along and she had a good reason for it too. He didn’t like it but he couldn’t insist on them going alone without raising questions. Maybe he would still be able to get her alone and talk with her.

Lucy registered the job with Mira before going to find Erza and Gray. Erza was easy enough to find, being at her favorite bakery getting her afternoon sweets, and was more than willing to go on the job. Gray was harder to find and eventually Lucy ended up heading to his apartment. She didn’t think of Gray as a homebody but that’s where she found him today.

His apartment was simple, minimalistic really. It was set up similar to Lucy’s with an overstuffed chair and couch, small bookshelf, and bed in the corner. His kitchen was larger than Lucy’s and he kept the place much colder than she liked. He answered the door in just his boxers and Lucy had to wonder how he could dress like that with the cold breeze that came from his apartment. She would be an icicle.

“Can’t you put on clothes to answer the door in at least?” Lucy asked him.

“Oh, hi Lucy.” Gray smiled at her. “You’re at my place, I can dress how I want.”

“You’re not dressed at all!” She yelled at him.

Gray laughed and moved out of the way so she could walk in. “What are you doing here?” He asked, handing her a blanket from off the back of the chair. Gray knew most people were uncomfortable in the cold temperatures he enjoyed. It wasn’t just a result of his magic, he also grew up in the cold. It had always been comforting to him and his magic just made him more tolerant of it. He didn’t have visitors to his apartment often, mostly just Lyon or sometimes Juvia, but he did keep a few blankets around for people who needed them. He also secretly loved to curl up under a fluffy blanket and read, not that he would ever tell anyone. That was the real reason he had the soft fur blanket on the chair which he was now handing over to Lucy before she could complain about the cold.

Lucy took it gratefully and wrapped herself in it. “We got a new job. It’s going to take a month, maybe longer, but the reward is so worth it.”

Gray sat down on the couch and pulled Lucy into his lap. He still wasn’t wearing any clothes. He felt warm compared to the cold air and Lucy snuggled closer to him. “Is Natsu coming?”

“Actually, it was his idea. I talked him into bringing you and Erza along.” Lucy gave him a sheepish look. They hadn’t talked about Natsu at all last night. Actually, now that she thought about it, they didn’t really talk at all about what they were going to do moving forward. “You don’t have to come if you don’t want too. Erza’s coming, so it won’t just be me and Natsu.”

“I’m not worried about you being alone with Natsu.” Gray told her honestly. He might not trust Natsu’s intentions but he did trust Lucy. She had told him, twice, that she didn’t want to be with Natsu and he trusted that. “I just didn’t know if you wanted to tell him about … everything.”

“Do you?” Lucy asked. She herself was unsure on what to do. Gray had been the one hiding everything from Natsu, not her.

“Why don’t we go on this Job and figure it out from there?” He suggested. “What’s the job.”

Lucy nodded and told Gray all about what was included in their new job. The longer she was sitting there, talking with him, the more she got use to the cold. It still wasn’t what she would call comfortable, but if she was in pants and slippers she might feel differently. The job was going to start in a few days and Lucy had things she had to get set up before they left. If they were going to be gone for a month she was going to have to make sure her rent was paid up and her apartment was cleaned. She stayed with Gray, planning for the trip, until she just got too cold then she headed back to her place to prepare.

The blue hair water mage was watching outside of the apartment. She had seen the blonde go into her beloveds building. She had waited the hour she was inside for her to leave. Her mind was full of all the ideas of what she could have been doing with her beloved. She wouldn’t let some tramp take her beloved from her. She watched as her love rival came out and stretched out her arm, enjoying the warmth of the sun. The cold wouldn’t bother her, she never cared if her beloved was cold she could heat her own body. She was perfect for him; her love rival could never give him what she could. She could never love him the why he deserved. She would find a way for him to see this. She would keep the two apart, create an opening she could slide into. She would have her beloved.

The bluenette spent the next two days finding out everything she could about this new job her beloved was going on. Her love rival planned to take him away on a cross country trip to be alone with him. Crazy thoughts filled her head of her beloved forgetting about her during the long trip and asking her love rival to marry him and have his children. She would not allow that to happen. She would stay near them, watch them, keep her beloved away from all other women.

The day the team was to leave for Hargeon Lucy had, somehow, managed to oversleep. Horologium had to send Loke to wake her so she didn’t miss her train. That was not an experience Lucy wanted to relive. She had been fast asleep, peacefully dreaming about her mother when the lion spirt had tried to shake her awake. Lucy had simply rolled over and shrugged him off.

“If you do don’t wish to wake, perhaps you would like me to join you?” Loke had offered.

Hearing her playboy lion’s voice had been enough to startle Lucy awake. She had gone to sleep in a tank top and shorts the night before. Lucy wasn’t sure why Loke was in her apartment and she didn’t care. Once, just once, she wanted to wake up and not find out one of her friends had broken into her apartment. It was normally Natsu or Happy, but Loke, Virgo, and Gray had woken her their fair she of times.

“As much as I hate to say this, Princess, but you may wish to cover yourself. Although I am enjoying the view.” Loke was ginning at her. Lucy looked down to see her top had shifted in her sleep and she was basically flashing Loke. She quickly fixed her top while yelling at him to go away.

Loke loved to tease his Keyholder. Being one of her contracted spirts, and a contract that was formed by the Spirt King himself, there was never going to be a chance for anything more than friendship between him and Lucy, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t tease her. For a spirt to have a physical relationship with their Keyholder, well, it was punished almost as severely as killing them. Loke had already endured that type of punishment and he wouldn’t go through that again, no matter how he might feel for Lucy.

“If I leave, then you’re going to miss your train. Your team is waiting for you.” Loke told her, pointing to her clock. It was 09:42 and her train was set to leave at 10. Lucy rushed out of bed and, grabbing some clothes, dashed into the bathroom to get ready.

Lucy could have sworn she had set her alarm the night before and she didn’t remember turning it off that morning. She must have been just so deep in her dream that she had done it without realizing. She took a moment to hold Horologium’s key and thank the spirt for sending Loke to wake her, even if it was mortifying. If she knew Loke, he wasn’t going to let her live down flashing him anytime soon. When Lucy was dressed she rushed from her apartment. Her bag was packed and waiting by the door, thanks to Virgo, and she grabbed as she locked up. She managed to make it to the train station just in time. The train left the station as she was taking her seat next to Gray. What a crazy start to the job, Lucy hoped this wasn’t a sign of things to come.


	6. Chapter 6

The train ride to Hargeon was a little awkward for Lucy. It was a short ride so Erza didn’t knock Natsu out like she would for longer trips. Somewhere during the trip Natsu ended up next to Lucy with his head in her lap. This wasn’t an unusual occurrence but Lucy felt strange about it now. Gray didn’t seem to care about it, he knew that Natsu was miserable and while he normally enjoyed teasing the fire slayer, he had long since grown bored of the easy pickings of motion sick Natsu. It was a great relief to Natsu and Lucy when they arrived in Hargeon and could get off the train and gather their things.

They went and checked into a hotel, getting two rooms, and dropped off their belongings before heading to the harbor to meet with their client. Everyone was carrying more things than they normally would. Erza’s cart was so full Lucy was sure she had magic keeping everything from crushing it. Gray and Lucy both had two bags each with clothes and personal items to make it for the duration of the trip. Natsu had even pack himself a bag for the first time ever. Even though this wasn’t an S-Class job it was giving Lucy an idea to the amount of planning that was needed for the long S-Class jobs. She was proud of the fact she was able to pack in a way that was easy to carry but still felt she hadn’t forgot anything. It helped that she had already planned to have Virgo bring her new clothes every week. It might be a little cheating but she had refused to look even remotely like Erza with her packing.

They were meeting their client down at one the numerous docks in the city harbor. This specific dock they were at was oddly empty. There was only one small fishing boat and two men standing at the end of the dock. One of the men was short wearing well-worn fishing clothes, his hair was dark brown and messy, he looked like he hadn’t seen a shower in weeks. The other man was older and wearing a suit. His blond hair was starting to gray. He looked out of place in his three-piece suit. This was the man they were sent to meet.

“Mr. Turnbull, my name is Erza Scarlet from Fairy Tail. These are my guildmates, Natsu, Gray and Lucy.” Erza stepped forward to shake the man’s hand, taking charge.

“You are the team that will be transporting my … items for me?” The man, Mr. Turnbull, asked her.

“We are. You were very vague in your request as to what it is we will be guarding.” Erza pointed out. She was looking around for whatever the item might be but there was nothing on the dock.

“Hey you.” The fishman spoke up, pointing at Lucy and Gray. “Come get this thing off my boat. I ain’t touching the thing.”

Gray and Lucy both looked at each other before shrugging and following the man onto the boat and below deck. They could only barely hear what Erza and the client were talking about.

“We are not sure what the items are. There are several large slabs with writing on them that no one has been able to identify. You will be escorting them to the boarder where you will be meeting up with a team from Seven that will then be escorting it to Isenberg. It is very important that you get this to the board on time. Wizards from Seven are not known to be patient and I will not allow this to be delayed any further.” Mr. Turnbull seemed to be taking this very seriously.

Lucy couldn’t hear anymore of the conversation once she and Gray were below deck. “If time is so important than why don’t you just move the items by ship?” She asked the fisherman.

“I don’t want these blasted things on my boat any longer than they already have been. I regret ever even finding them.” He pointed them to three large stone slabs that were sitting tangled in a net next to an empty crate.

“Is that them?” Gray asked and the man nodded. Lucy noticed he kept his distance as the two of them moved closer. “I guess we have to get these packed up.”

Lucy helped Gray moved the heavy pieces of stone into the waiting crate. It took some time to untangle them from the net without getting caught up in it themselves. “So why do you want these off your boat so bad?” Lucy asked, her natural curiosity wouldn’t let her drop the topic.

“Those things are curse. Bad luck to anyone who goes near them.” The man told them. Lucy almost dropped the last slab in shock.

“Did you say curse?” Gray was the one who shouted at the fisherman.

“That I did. Evil curse. I wouldn’t even get near them when we pulled them up with the net. My first mate was the one who put them down here.” He explained to them.

“And where is he at?” Lucy asked.

“Got swept overboard in a storm on our way back. It came out of nowhere, blew him right off the deck and was gone in a flash. Ain’t never seen nothing like it before.” He told them, shaking his head slightly. “Damn curse.”

“So, you think they are curse just because of that?” Lucy asked. It sounded strange but one accident didn’t mean they were cursed.

“Nah, there’s more. They say the men that found it all died is strange accident within a few days of uncovering those stones. The ship that was bringing them here sunk just outside the harbor, no survivors. Things have been legend around these parts for many years. I was the unluck fool that stumbled upon them. I should have thrown them right back into the sea.”

Gray closed up the crate, they were going to need Natsu and Erza to help them move it. “Why didn’t you if you’re so scared?”

“I knew there was a man in town looking for them. Mr. Turnbull is paying nicely for me bringing them to shore.” He admitted, “To good a deal to pass up.”

Lucy wouldn’t say she was superstitious but there were some things you just didn’t mess with and curses were one of them. She was already feeling uneasy over the fact her and Gray had been handling the stones directly but now there was going to be weeks of them carrying the things around. Even tonight her and Erza were going to be keeping watch over the box in their hotel before they left first thing in the morning. She suddenly wasn’t feeling like this job was going to be worth it … who was she kidding? Two million jewel. She could deal with a little curse for that kind of cash.

Lucy went up to get Natsu and Erza to help them with the crate. Erza had just finished getting the details for the journey and the names of the people they were meeting at the border. Mr. Turnbull had a route he wanted them to follow. It wasn’t the most direct way but it avoided all major towns and areas of known bandit activity. He was very concerned that someone would attempt to steal the stone slabs before they made it to their destination. Erza assured the man that they would not allow anything to happen to his property while it was with them and that they would not be late for their rendezvous before her and Natsu helped Gray and Lucy retrieve the crate. Mr. Turnbull did one look over of the items before he felt assured that they were safe. Lucy took note of the fact he avoided touching them or even getting to close.

After everything was settled they took the crate back to their hotel where they were going to plan over how to get where they needed to go. Something felt off when they entered into Lucy and Erza’s room A quick look around told Lucy what the problem was. Her bags were missing. All of Erza’s things were untouched but Lucy’s clothes and supplies were missing.

“Where did all my things go?” Lucy shouted as she just about tore the room apart looking for her bags. It was pointless, they were gone.

“Are you sure you didn’t leave them on the train?” Happy asked. He was trying to be helpful but Lucy wasn’t really in the mood.

“Yes, I’m sure! They were right here when we left!” She pointed at the bed where she had left her bags. “Someone must have taken them.”

“We are the only people with keys to this room. I do not see how someone could have got in.” Erza pointed out.

“Can’t you just have that crazy maid bring you new things Luce?” Natsu asked.

Lucy could have Virgo bring her clothes but the things Virgo picked out weren’t always the most sensible. On top of that there were things a girl needed if she was going to be gone for a month, personal things, hygienic things, things she did not want to asked Virgo for. She knew Virgo would tell Loke and she did NOT need him knowing that much about her. Lucy was starting to spiral into a mental pit of embarrassment when Gray saved her.

“I was going to go pick of some supplies before we left, why don’t you come with me, Lucy? It looks like we won’t be near any towns for a while so we should grab some food and maybe medicine. We can pick up some clothes and anything else you need while were out.” Gray told her, smiling.

Lucy wanted to kiss gray right then, she almost did too, only the fact Natsu was there stopping her. “That’s a wonderful idea, thanks Gray.”

“Me and Natsu will stay here to watch over the cargo then.” Erza said, giving a pointed look to Natsu who was about to invite himself alone on their shopping trip.

“Bring me back some fishys!” Happy shouted at Lucy as she left with Gray.

Lucy was stressed and stiff as she walked with Gray. She was nervous about the curse and the fact her things had gone missing. She couldn’t understand how that had happened. She was now going to have to dig into her savings to replace everything that was lost. Gray could feel how tense Lucy was and took her hand, lacing his fingers with hers. “It’s going to be okay. We have beaten curses before, remember.”

Lucy smiled as she remembered their adventure on Galuna Island. “That wasn’t a curse, it was just Lyon and the moon drip.”

“I personally consider Lyon a curse.” He told her, causing her to laugh at him. He had achieved the effect he was hoping for and Lucy relaxed, taking his arm and leaning into him as they walked.

Their first stop was at an apothecary shop. Gray was picking out healing suave they might need along with other health potions they may need. Lucy went and picked up the supplies she would need when her monthly visitor showed up in a few weeks. While she was there she noticed the display of birth control and condoms. She stood staring at the wide selection without really taking any of it in. She was debating with herself if she was going to need any of it. Well, she was dating someone now so chances were that she would need it at some point but would see need it before they got back home? She wasn’t planning on doing that kind of stuff with Gray while they were on the job but what if the perfect moment came up? She didn’t want to pass on it just because she didn’t think to grab some protection now.

“Are you ready, Lucy?” Gray asked as he came over, startling Lucy out of the train of thought. He smiled at her when he noticed what she had been staring at.

Lucy looked at Gray’s smirk that so resembled a look Loke almost constantly wore then back to the display she had been staring at, going bright red when she realized what he must be thinking. “I wasn’t … I mean …” She covered her face with her hands.

Gray chuckled lightly then reached past her shoulder to grab one of the boxes labeled ‘ultra-thin’ and tossed it in his basket. “Never hurts to be prepared. Don’t want any accidents.” He whispered in her ear.

Lucy shivered both from the cold breath on her hot neck along with the words. She quickly reached out and grabbed on of the birth control potions. It was the same type that she knew Cana used and that girl had yet to get pregnant so it must work pretty well. Gray was right, they didn’t need any accidents. Lucy didn’t lose her blush the entire time they were checking out. Gray’s suave for sore muscles and cuts was taking on a whole new meaning with the new addition to his purchase. Lucy could practically hear the thoughts in the mans head as he was cashing them out. It didn’t help that, while waiting for her, Gray had stripped off his shirt.

“Gray! Clothes!” Lucy yelled at him when she turned around as saw him half naked, even his pants were undone like he was going to lose next.

The man behind the counter laughed at them. “You can’t blame him for being eager, not when he’s got a pretty thing like you.”

Lucy wanted to crawl under a rock and die. She took Gray’s hand and dragged him out of the shop, he was laughing the whole way. Lucy dragged him into the first clothing store she found and made him sit and wait while she picked out something to wear. She was starting to feel her face cool back down to a normal temperature by the time she had picked out her clothes. Three pairs of pants, two shorts, two skirts, a jacket and assorted tops for all weather. It wasn’t much but it covered the basics and Virgo would be able to substitute anything else she needed. After that they picked up the toiletries Lucy would need and some food staples like rice, noodles, and veggies that they would just need water to cook up.

Lucy had been enjoying her shopping date with Gray and had almost forgot about the whole condom incident when they passed by her favorite lingerie shop. She hadn’t planned on buying any, was just going to have Virgo supply her with something, anything, but they were having a sale and Lucy couldn’t resist a sale. It had the added benefit of watching Gray’s eyes get huge and he got nervous as she pulled him into the store. “I’ll be really quick.” She promised.

Gray had never felt more out of place than he did right then. He and the rest of the team knew the kind of underwear Lucy wore, they had gone snooping around her apartment when she first joined Fairy Tail, but being surrounded by so much of it was nerve wracking. Add in the fact that he was now dating Lucy and there was a very real chance he could see her in whatever she picked out and, needless to say, he was uncomfortable. He found himself looking around just as a why to distract himself, trying not to look at what Lucy was picking out. As he was looking around there was one bra and panty set that caught his eye. It was all lace in the ice blue color he loved seeing Lucy in. There was small black stars and white snowflakes printed into the lace. It wasn’t exactly practical; the lace was so thin you could probably see through it when it was on. That lead him into thinking about what Lucy would look like with it on.

Lucy had picked out several pair of undergarments and went to go find where Gray had wondered off too. She found him still looking at the blue set he had found. He was lightly touching the lace of the bra with a far off look in his eyes. Lucy say this as the prefect chance to get a little pay back. She walked up behind him and whispered in his ear, “Would you like to see what that looks like on?”

Gray nearly jumped though the roof when she startled him out of his thoughts. Lucy and to cover her mouth to suppress her laughter. “What? What did you ask?”

“Oh, nothing.” She reached past him and grabbed the right size for her. “This is nice, don’t you think?” She held the bra up to her chest and waited for Gray to comment. It was taking all her willpower not to show her embarrassment but watching him flounder for words was to much fun for her to pass up.

“I … umm … I … yeah.” Gray couldn’t form a more thoughtful response than that. Not when Lucy was asking his option on her lingerie with that playful smile and laughter in her eyes. She smiled and grabbed the matching underwear.

“I think I’ll get them then, if you like them so much.” She smirked at him and all he could do is nod. “I’ll go check out then, be right back. Oh, and Gray,” She waited for him to meet her eyes, “Clothes?”

Gray cursed and noticed he was in just his boxers. When had that happened? He must look like some pervert standing in his boxers in a lingerie shop. It didn’t help that his boxers were doing nothing to hide the affect his wayward thoughts about Lucy had on him. He could hear her bubbly laughter as she headed to the counter to pay while he quickly got dressed again. If Lucy had noticed his bodies reaction she didn’t seem to be nearly as embarrassed as he was by it.

It was getting late by the time they got back to the hotel. Lucy stopped outside the door to her room, putting down all the bags she had. “I had fun today.” She was speaking quietly, not sure of Natsu was in the room or if he could hear them through the door if he was.

“I did too.” Gray smiled at here. Even with all the embarrassment and the teasing it had been fun. There were a few times he had forgotten they were even out on a job. He had been able to walk hand in hand with Lucy, something he never wanted to stop doing.

Lucy leaned forward and gave Gray a soft, tender kiss on the lips. It was short but very sweet. “Ready to go back to work?”

No, he wasn’t. He wanted more time alone with Lucy, more of those kisses. He should have taken the chance today to kiss her more. Why hadn’t he kissed her more? He was going to be beating himself up about that for the rest of this job. They probably wouldn’t have any privacy for a long while. Reluctantly he nodded and opened the door to the room. Erza and Natsu were sitting on the beds with room service on a cart between them. Erza went over the plans they made while Gray and Lucy joined them for food. Happy had already eaten himself into a food coma on Lucy’s pillows.

The blue haired women had been following her beloved all day. She had hoped that by stealing her love-rivals belongings she would be forced to return home. Instead the blond had spent the day on the arm of her beloved. It wasn’t fair. She didn’t understand what he saw in the Celestial mage. She wasn’t any curvier than his true love, she wasn’t as strong as his true love, she was always complaining about his stripping, his true love never complained about any of her beloveds habits. He was perfect to her and she was perfect for him, he would see. She just had to get her love-rival away from him. She was going to have to try harder next time. All was fair in love and war and this was becoming a war.


	7. Chapter 7

If Lucy thought her troubles would end when they left Hargeon than she was mistaken. They had rented a horse drawn cart to help moved the crate of stone slabs. When they left early in the morning it was already raining and didn’t show signs of stopping. They left Hargeon and headed northeast into the mountains. It was a miserable hike and it only got colder and wetter as they went.

It was shortly after they left the town that Lucy slipped in the mud and twisted her ankle. It hurt like hell but Lucy was sure she would be fine with a little rest. She was now riding on the cart with Erza while the boys were walking along side and Happy was inside hiding from the rain. The higher into the mountains they went the colder it became. Everyone was soaked by the time the rain stopped in the late afternoon. They found a clearing near a mountain spring to make camp at that night.

Lucy’s ankle was feeling better by that time and she was able to put a little weight on it. They set up two tents to sleep in and Lucy had Aries fill both tents with her warm wool to add a little insulation for the cold night. With the sun gone and everything damp from the rain the temperature was dropping fast. The wood around the campsite was to wet to light, even Natsu couldn’t get a fire going. Natsu was able to boil some water from the spring so they could have hot soup to warm up with but that was the best he could do.

“This is turning into a miserable job. Who’s bright idea was it to go into the mountains in winter?” Lucy asked, looking accusingly at Natsu. She was sitting huddled around the flame he was producing in his hands with Erza across from her and Happy in Natsu’s lap. Gray was taking the first watch tonight.

“I don’t know what your complaining about. It feels fine to me. I mean the rain sucks but it’s not that cold out.” Natsu tried to defend himself. It’s not like he was the one that picked the route they would be taking.

“Yeah, I’m all toasty warm myself.” Happy added from his spot between the hot fire and hot fire slayer.

“That’s easy for you to say! Natsu is a human furnace.” Lucy snapped at the Exceed. She really hated the cold, at least she hated cold weather.

“If you’re so cold then sleep with me tonight, Luce. I’ll keep you warm.” Natsu said with his boyish smile.

“I don’t …” Lucy started to object, thinking this would just make things more awkward, but Erza cut her off.

“I think that’s a splendid idea. We shall all share to conserve warmth.” Erza declared, her tone leaving no room for argument, not that it ever worked with Erza anyways.

A few minutes later found the four of them all in a tent meant for two people, trying to sleep. Happy and Natsu fell asleep quickly. Erza seemed to have no issue sleeping with her back pressed into Natsu’s side and was out almost as fast as he was. Lucy tried to find room to lay that didn’t involve her being pressed against her friend but Natsu was easily taking up half the space in the tent and it just wasn’t possible. She ended up laying in a position similar to Erza on Natsu’s other side.

Gray came in to get Erza when it was time fore her watch. When he opened the tent, it let cold air in and both girls moved closer to Natsu, Lucy rolling over to curl around him. Gray felt some jealousy seeing them like that. It was more over the fact that he couldn’t help warm her, but there was some basic jealousy over the fact she was snuggled up with another man. Gray tried pushing it aside and woke up Erza for her watch. They both left the tent, leaving Natsu, Happy and Lucy together. Gray went to lay down in the other tent so he wouldn’t make Lucy too cold.

Natsu had the watch after Erza. When he was woken all he could smell was Lucy’s strawberry vanilla scent. He loved that smell, it was the main reason he would break into her apartment in the mornings. He had never been woken with the scent so strong and when he opened his eyes he realized why. Lucy was laying across his chest, her head was tucked under his chin and she had a leg and arms tossed over his body. He figured he had to still be dreaming, but Erza’s voice dispelled that notion.

“Natsu, it’s your turn to stand guard.” She told him, talking in a harsh whisper as to not wake Lucy.

“Five more minutes.” Happy whined, curling into Natsu’s shoulder on the oppose side as Lucy.

“Come on little buddy.” He carefully untagged himself from Lucy, doing his best not to wake her, and picked up Happy to go to their guard duty. The scent of strawberries and vanilla clung to him.

The rain women had been watching the group all day. She hadn’t meant to make it rain but seeing her beloved leaving town with her love rival had upset her. She now saw how the women was clinging to the fire slayer. How dare she spur the affections that the water mage would kill to have? Maybe she could use this to help in her plans. IF she could not get her love rival away from her beloved perhaps she could push her into the arms of another.

“I saw you getting cozy with Lucy.” Happy teased once they were in the covered wagon with the crate.

“I was just helping keep her warm.” Natsu argued. That thought did make him wonder if she would be alright. Erza was staying with her and he had left the tent fairly warm, but he didn’t want her getting cold. He knew how sensitive she could be too cold weather.

“Sure you were.” Happy was smirking at him. “It looked like a whole lot more than that to me.”

“It ain’t like that. Me and Luce … We’re just friends.” Natsu told him, trying to keep a light tone so his disappointment wouldn’t show. Happy knew him to well for that to work.

“Natsu …” Happy’s tone was suddenly serious.

“Just drop it Happy, please.” Natsu didn’t mean to snap at his friend and immediately regretted it. He sighed and pulled Happy into his lap. “Get some more sleep, buddy.”

“Aye” Happy didn’t have his normal excited tone but he curled up and drifted back to sleep.

Lucy had the last watch of the night, taking the early morning shift. Loke came to wake her and luckily, she was in winter weather pajamas and there wasn’t a repeat of the flashing incident. She got dressed and the two of them went to relieve Natsu and Happy. Her ankle had swollen up some overnight and it was still painful to walk on but she refused to let that stop her. Natsu and happy both were excited to see Lucy and ran off to see if they could catch some fish for breakfast. Lucy never understood how Natsu could be such a morning person.

“Is you leg hurt, Princess?” Loke asked, having noticed how she was limping.

“I just twisted my ankle in some mud yesterday.” She explained, stretching out her sore leg to get a better look at it. Loke quickly grabbed hold of it to examine it.

“It don’t appear to be broken.” He said as he gently probed it. He than switched over to massaging her foot, ankle, and lower leg, rubbing in some pain relieving suave. Lucy was going to object but once he started it just felt to good for her to stop him. Instead she laid back and closed her eyes. She didn’t even realize the small sounds of pleasure she was making until she heard Loke snickering.

“How long I have dreamed of hearing you make those sounds at my fingertips.” He told her with his cocky smile.

Lucy felt herself go red and she tried to pull her foot away but Loke held onto it. “I am not above kicking you.”

“I always knew you were kinky, carrying that wipe around. Virgo will be so proud.” His tone was playful as he went back to his massage.

Lucy’s anger faded away under his touch, his hands were just that good. “I swear Loke, I’ll call Lionetta out to control you.”

Loke just laughed at her empty threat. If she was going to summon the little lion it would be to fix her ankle, not to bother him. At least that’s what he hoped. Just in case he kept his mouth shut as he worked on first the injured leg and then her other, making sure she was relaxed. It was his job to take care of Lucy and that included making sure she didn’t overwork herself with these long walks.

The water mage was just waking up when she saw the celestial mage with her spirt. The women was getting close to two men on top of the ice mage she loved so much. How could he tolerate such behavior? She would never do that to him. She had never looked at another man since the day he showed her the blue sky. He deserved better then this woman, she would make him see that.

The sun was starting to come up and it was already starting to feel warmer out when Gray and Erza started to stir. Natsu and Happy came back with plenty of fish for them to share for breakfast. After thanking Loke for staying up with her, Lucy sent him back to the spirt world. Natsu cooked up their fish while everyone else broke down camp. Within the hour they were packed up, fed, and on the road again. They had lost time yesterday due to the rain and had to move quickly to make up for it.

It wasn’t raining today and that made the trip easier. Lucy’s ankle was feeling much better thanks to Loke and she was walking alongside Gray for most of the day. She loved her team but being alone on the road for long periods was not normally a good idea for them. It didn’t take long for the bickering to start between Natsu and Gray. This time it was over what was going to be for lunch, Natsu wasn’t fish again, Gray wanted anything else. Erza ended up getting involved just for the sake of fighting. Lucy knew the real problem was the team was bored and this was their way of entertaining themselves. It drove her crazy though.

“Could you three stop fighting for two minutes!” She yelled as the verbal fight started to become physical. No one was listening to her.

“I said knock it off!” She shouted louder and everyone quieted down as her voice echoed off the walls of the surrounding mountain side.

“I didn’t know you could shout like that Luce.” Natsu said from where he was pinned down under one of Erza’s swords, she had a second sword to Gray’s neck.

Lucy felt a little proud of herself, she was actually able to get the group to stop fighting. That feeling was short lived however as a thundering sound filled her ears. She only had a split second to look up the mountain side and see the rockslide heading right for them. She was suddenly swept off her feet but not in time to avoid all the rocks as one slammed into her arm and pain clouded her vision.

“Ice-Make: Shield!” Gray shouted and covered the team in an ice barrier to protect them from the falling rocks. Lucy was in Natsu’s arms but he dropped her once they were safely under Gray’s protection. His shoulder was bleeding and looked unnatural from where a boulder had hit him. Lucy cradled her arm to her chest as they waited for the rockslide to finish. It could have only lasted a minute but it felt like a lifetime. Once the last rocks fell Gray lowered his shield.

“Is anyone hurt?” Erza asked, looking over her team. Natsu’s shoulder looked bad and Gray was holding one of his wrists. Luckily the rocks missed the cart, the horse having run a little way down the road to safety.

“Where in the world did that come from?” Natsu asked, looking at the pile of rocks littering the road around them.

“The rocks are soaked. The rain yesterday must have loosened them.” Gray said, examining the rocks around them.

“Yeah and Lucy’s loud mouth knocked them down.” Happy said as he flew over to the group. He had been scouting ahead for them when the rockslide happened.

“You can’t blame this on me, you stupid cat!” Lucy shouted at him.

“Oh, then what do you think caused it?” The Exceed counted.

“It’s the stupid curse.” She spat out as she fumbled for her keys. She had promised to call Lionetta no more than twice a week, this seemed like a good time to call her.

“Curse?” Happy looked freaked out and tried hiding behind Natsu.

“You don’t really believe that? Do you?” Gray asked, helping her get her keys out without hurting her arm.

“I was almost taken out by a pile of rocks.” She pointed out.

“What is this curse?” Erza asked, looking interested.

“The old fishman said the rocks are cursed. Everyone what touched them has died shortly after.” Gray explained to them.

“But Curses aren’t real, right Natsu?” Happy said, looking to his friend for comfort and Natsu looked pale and frozen in place. “Oh, no, Natsu’s down!”

Lucy sighed and summoned Lionetta. The little girl appeared in a flash of golden light and curtsied to her.

“Lady Lucy, Daddy told me you hurt your ankle. Why didn’t you call me sooner?” The young girl scolded her, hands on her hips.

“I didn’t want to bother you for something so small, but now …” Lucy started to explain but Lionette cut her off with a gasp.

“What happened, Lady Lucy?” She asked, taking in Lucy’s arm that was still cradled to her chest and the injuries to Gray and Natsu.

“Who is this girl, Luce? Did you get a new spirit or something?” Natsu asked, giving the girl a confused look.

“This is Lionetta, of the little lion constellation. I guess you haven’t meet yet.” She told Natsu, using her good arm to make inductions. “Lionette, this is Natsu and Erza, the cat is Happy, they are my team mates.”

“Knight Erza.” Lionetta addressed the warrior women with a curtsy and turned to Natsu and Happy. “Sir Happy, Sir Na … Natsu” She said, stumbling over her words and blushing as she looked him.

“There was a rockslide.” Gray said, getting the girls attention. “Lucy and Natsu got a little beat up, can you help?”

Lionetta turned a glare onto Gray. “You’re suppose to keep Lady Lucy safe.”

“Gray kept most of the rocks from hitting us.” Lucy told her, kneeling in front of her. “Will you please help us?”

“Anything for you, Lady Lucy.” Lionetta reached out and touched Lucy’s arm. There was a golden glow and Lucy felt the pain floe from her body, in a matter of seconds her arm felt good as new. After that Lionetta fixed Lucy’s ankle too. The dull pain that had been there all day faded away and the bruising vanished.

“That’s cool! Me next!” Natsu declared, moving forward. Lionetta blushed again as she reached up and healed Natsu’s shoulder. She didn’t look at him as she healed him and moved over to Gray when she was done.

“Sir Gray, I can heal you’re wrist if you like.” She said politely and took his wrist when he held it out. After everyone was healed she turned back to face Lucy. “Daddy is worried about you, Lady Lucy. He asked me to be available for you at all times until you return to Magnolia.”

“Oh, I couldn’t do that to you.” Lucy tried to protest. “It would be asking too much.”

“If you want to make it up to me, you can let me and Daddy have a play date when we get back home.” The little girl gave Lucy a hopeful look.

Lucy smiled, Gray actually chuckled. “Who is the father you keep mentioning?” Erza asked the girl.

“Leo, of course.” Lionetta said like it was obvious, which if you thought about it, it was. Gray and Lucy both burst into laughed to at open jawed looks of shock from their three team mates. They had probably looked the same way when they had first heard that news.

“I promise you and Loke can have a whole day to play together when we get home.” Lucy said, and being a promise, she would make sure Loke made it happen.

“Thank you!” Lionetta screamed and threw herself into Lucy. Lucy had been expecting the flying hug and only staggered a little. After everyone had thanked Lionetta for her help, Lucy sent her back to the Celestial world where she was sure the little spirt was telling Loke all about their upcoming playdate. That’s what the man gets for teasing her.

They started back on the road after that. Happy was muttering to himself as he rode on the back of the cart. Apparently there had been something important he had meant to tell them but he couldn’t remember now. It was typical for that Exceed. Lucy figured it was probably something to do with food knowing how the Exceed thought and ignored him.

That night they were camping higher up in the mountains, snow was on the ground. Without really discussing it, it was agreed that they would have the same sleeping arrangements as the night before. Guard duty was rotated so Erza was up first followed by Natsu, Lucy and Gray last. It was a little strange for Lucy to go to sleep with it just her, Natsu, and Happy in the tent, but she was so exhausted from the day she fell asleep quickly.

When Erza came to wake Natsu for his watch she found them in the same position they had been in the night before. Natsu was holding Lucy to him this time with his face in her hair. Erza found herself in a slightly awkward position. She had thought Lucy was with Gray but now it seemed maybe she was with Natsu, or maybe Lucy was just more physical with guys than Erza was and she simply hadn’t noticed before. Erza decided she would have to have a talk with Lucy, for the good of the team. Tonight, she just woke Natsu for his watch and laid down. Natsu made sure to fill the tent with hot air before he and Happy left.

Loke woke up Lucy for her watch like he had the night before and he stayed with her for it. At first, he had tried to talk her out of the playdate with Lionetta but he knew it was pointless to try and talk her out of a promise. Lucy Heartfilia did not break promises, especially those made to little girls and her spirts. After that had failed he wrapped one of Aries wool blankets around her and helped her pass the time until her watch was over.

Lucy went to Gray’s tent to wake him while Loke stayed for guard duty. When she went in she found him in his boxers laying in the wool blankets Aries provided. She wasn’t surprised to see him comfortable in this temperature. She reached out to shake him awake but stopped as she got a better idea. She leaned down close to him and whispered in his ear. “It’s time to wake up.” Before she pressed her lips against his.

Gray had been dreaming about his training with Ur when he heard Lucy’s voice. He couldn’t make out the words but he knew the voice. He was slowly woken by the feeling of lips pressed against his. Opening his eyes, he saw it was Lucy that was leaning over him, slowly moving away as he woke up. He quickly reached up and pulled her down into another kiss, this one stealing her breath away. Being on this job with her was turning into it’s own form of torture. He was growing to hate being so close to her and having to restrict his behavior. He especially hated that she was sleeping in a tent with Natsu and spending her watches with Loke. He poured his frustrations into this one kiss.

Lucy was blushing when she finally was able to pull away and catch her breath. Gray was smiling at her as he sat up. “Good morning.”

“Mor … Morning” Lucy stuttered. Her blush grew darker as Gray pulled on his shirt.

“I think I’m going to like you waking me for my watch, Lucy.” He said, a little smirk on his face.

“I just thought … I mean … it can’t be easy four you. Me sleeping with Natsu, I mean.” She told him, looking at her hands in her lap.

“It’s not.” Gray admitted and Lucy flinched. He reached out and took her hands, waiting for her to look at him. “I just wish I could be the one keeping you warm, that’s all.”

Lucy smiled shyly at him. “Will be out of the mountains soon. Then you get to deal with Natsu’s snoring.”

Gray laughed as he finished getting dressed. “Maybe we can talk Erza into bunking with him.”

“Or we can hang him from a tree?” Lucy offered and they both were laughing. The tension that had been forming was lifted. Gray gave her a kiss to the cheek before leaving the tent for his watch. Lucy went back to the warmth of the tent with Erza, Happy and Natsu. She laid down and was quickly back to sleep, thoughts of Gray filling her head and her dreams.


	8. Chapter 8

If Lucy thought things would get easier as they headed out of the mountains she was wrong. Not only was it raining again which made it freezing cold, there was the mud and wind to deal with. The cart got stuck on more than one occasion and they had to push it out resulting in all four of them being covered in freezing mud. They were attacked by not just one but two separate packs on Vulcan and had to cross a river that’s bridge had been swept away by the fast current. This was all before noon. Lucy was exhausted and frustrated much like the rest of the team. Natsu was the only one still in good spirits. He was trying to keep everyone upbeat but it was only serving to piss Lucy and Gary off.

“One more word Natsu and I’m going to throw you off the closet cliff!” Lucy yelled at him as the man was actually asking for more Vulcan to so up so he could fight them. “And if I see one more hairy ape today I’m letting it eat you!”

“Aw come on Luce. The fighting makes things more fun.” Natsu was grinning at her. “Get’s me all fired up.”

“Maybe it’s fun for you, but the rest of us don’t like getting beat up.” Lucy sighed. Luckily no one had been seriously hurt in their fighting. Taurus had been attacked with his own axe but he was resting in the Celestial world and would be fine.

“We’re all fine.” Natsu pointed out.

“Yeah, and you got that new spirit too. So even if Natsu does go cray and hurt someone she can fix us.” Happy told them.

“That’s right! I forgot about her!” Natsu said. “See Luce, it’s all fine …. What do you mean if _I_ hurt someone.” Happy’s words just made sense to Natsu.

“He’s saying you’re more destructive than a pack of wild Vulcan, ash for brains.” Gray told him, getting Happy, Erza and Lucy to laugh.

“I’ll show you how destructive I can be, Ice Princess!” Natsu shouted, fire erupting over his fists.

“Bring it on, Flame Breath!” Gray retaliated, taking his own fighting stance.

Lucy sighed and looked to Erza. “Let’s just leave them. It might be good for them to work out some energy.”

Erza nodded in agreement. “Yes, I trust them to catch up.” Both girls turned their backs on the fighting boys and continued down the muddy road.

“Lucy, do you mind if I ask you something personal?” Erza asked when they were out of earshot of the still brawling men.

“You’re my friend Erza, you don’t have to ask permission.” Lucy told her.

“I’m just confused about something. I have notice how you have become close with Gray as of late.” Erza wasn’t asking, just stating the facts. Lucy blushed lightly but didn’t say anything. “But it appears you have also become closer with Natsu. I had thought, perhaps, that you had romantic notions for Gray but now I am confused.”

Lucy giggled a little. “I have more than just notions for Gray. We are sort of dating. Natsu’s my friend, one of my best friends, but that’s all. Trust me, it is totally weird sharing a tent with him. I can’t wait for it to warm up so I don’t have to listen to him snoring.”

Erza still looked confused. “Does Natsu know about this?”

Lucy looked a little guilty, staring at her feet. “We want to tell him, but you know how Natsu can be. We wanted to see how this job goes and tell him after. I don’t want to break up the team and this job is paying so well. I figure that if needed we can take a break after this. Give Natsu time to adjust, you know. Please don’t say anything to him” She gave Erza a hopeful look, willing her to understand.

“If that’s is what you wish.” Erza told her, sounding like she didn’t approve.

“It is, thank you for understanding.” Lucy smiled at her.

“Hey! Wait for us!” Gray and Natsu shouted as they ran after the girls, just noticing that they had left.

By late in the afternoon Lucy was ready to throw in the towel and give up on this job from hell. The rain had not let up at all and everyone was soaked to the bone. Lucy seemed to be the lucky person to find every mud pit, wild animal, or random Vulcan (Thank you Natsu) that crossed their path. Currently she was up to her waist in a muddy sinkhole.

“I hate cruses!” She shouted as her team was working on a way of getting her out without getting stick themselves.

“You have seemed to have a lot of bad luck today.” Erza pointed out. She was securing a length of rope to a near by tree to help pull Lucy out with.

“You know, you could fly me out of this, Cat.” She glared at Happy who was sitting inside of the cart on the crate with the stone tablets in it.

“You’re too heavy with all that mud. Besides I can’t fly in this rain, it will her my fur all wet.” Happy pointed out. He was the only dry member of the team and he was going to keep it like that.

Lucy grabbed a handful of mud and threw it at the Exceed, hitting him right in the face and knocking him off the box. “Ha! Take that!”

“Natsuuuu!” Happy cried and flew to his friend, not seeming to care about the rain anymore.

Erza and Gray helped her Lucy out of the mud while Natsu cleaned off Happy. Once out of the mud pit Lucy just sat on the ground, she looked to be on the verge of tears. She held her head in her hands, her body slumped over and shaking from the cold.

“Maybe we should make camp for the night.” Erza suggested. They had been hoping to make it to a town at the base of the mountain but they were still a few hours from there and the weather was making it slow going. Erza wasn’t sure if Lucy could handle any more excitement for today.

“No, we have a deadline to meet.” Lucy said, looking up at her friends. Gray could see the glassy look to her eyes, she had been crying the rain just hide her tears. “Besides I want a real bed tonight.”

“If you’re sure, Lucy. But I think you should rest for a little bit.” Gray held out his hand to help her up and didn’t let go of her hand after she was standing, instead her walked her over to cart and picked her up, sitting her on the back. He could see how worn down she was and it killed him inside. He was grateful he decided to come alone. Natsu probably wouldn’t even have noticed how worn down Lucy was. Gray brushed a stray tear away as it slid down Lucy’s cheek. He didn’t even give it two thoughts before placing a soft kiss to her lips.

“I love you. Today was crap but tomorrow will be better. When this is all over we’ll head to Hosenka for a week. I promise.” He whispered quietly, pressing his forehead against hers.

Lucy smiled slightly and gave Gray another light kiss. “You shouldn’t spoil me too much, I might come to expect it all the time.” She said, using the same hushed tone he did.

“I’ll always spoil you Lucy, you deserve it.” Gray told her. Lucy was blushing lightly as he moved away. “If we hurry we can get to town by dusk.” He said loud enough for everyone to hear.

Natsu had been getting the last of the half-frozen mud out of Happy’s fur when he had heard the whispered words. He knew he wasn’t ment to hear them but Dragon-Slayer hearing being what it was he heard it clearly. He wasn’t the only one with feelings for Lucy, apparently Gray loved her too.

“Natsu, what’s wrong?” Happy asked, noticing Natsu had gone stiff.

“Nothing, little buddy.” Natsu said, shaking his head to clear it. “You’re all clean now.”

“Thanks, Natsu.” Happy said before flying back to that cart. He sat up near the front and kept an eye on Lucy, waiting for her to throw more mud at him.

The walk for the rest of the day was surprisingly quiet and uneventful. Not only did that not run into anymore issues, it seemed Natsu forgot how to talk. He was simply walking quietly behind the cart. Occasionally he would look up at Lucy but he never said anything. Lucy figured he was just angry at her for throwing mud at Happy, but the cat deserved it for calling her fat, again. Lucy wasn’t going to apologize unless Happy did. Besides, she was enjoying the quiet. Even the rain was starting to let up.

The town of Calidi was barely more than just a few buildings. There was one hotel and two restaurants, a handful of shops and a few dozen homes. It had less than two hundred full time residents. The town itself probably wouldn’t even exist if it wasn’t for the large number of hot springs on the surrounding area. When Lucy had seen how close they were going to be to the town she had insisted they stop. The hot springs around Calidi were famous. She had heard all about them when she was growing up. It was said to be a magical place where the sick would find health, the weak would find strength and the lonely would find love. She realized this was probably all superstition started by the town to encourage people to visit but it had sounded magical to her as a child and she had always wanted to visit.

They were able to get checked into the hotel and, after getting settled in and rinsed off, Lucy went right down to the hot springs. Erza had chosen to stay in their hotel room for a little while to relax so Lucy went alone. Lucy wasn’t surprised to see Natsu already in the communal spring. She made sure her towel was tight around her before joining him in the water. The hot water felt heavenly to her after all the cold rain of the day.

“It’s not to warm is it Luce?” Natsu asked, moving over to sit next to her. “I was alone so I had warmed it up a bit.”

Lucy closed her eyes and laid her head back against the rocks, sinking down to her neck in the water. “It’s perfect Natsu. Thank you.”

“I’m sorry, Lucy.” Natsu said after a moment of silence.

“For what?” Lucy opened her eyes and looked at him. He wasn’t looking at her, instead his eyes were on the rocks across the pool.

“I didn’t think this job was going to be so hard. I thought it would just be some easy cash and a chance to spend time with you, you know. I didn’t know about the curse or think about what kind of things we would run into along the way. I didn’t really think at all.” Natsu told her.

Lucy sat up and put her hand on Natsu’s shoulder to comfort him. She wasn’t used to serious Natsu and when that did happen she knew it because something was really bothering him. “It’s okay, Natsu. We have Gray and Erza here to help out. There’s nothing we can’t handle as a team.”

Normally those words would cheer Natsu up but it didn’t tonight. He was tense and his mind was confused. Having Lucy so close, touching him, with them both only in towels wasn’t really helping either. He moved away from her, putting some space between them.

“Natsu?” Lucy sounded concerned.

“I don’t think Gray would be happy to see us like this.” He watched her flinch and look away, guilt in her eyes. He felt like she had stabbed in the heart with a knife made out of ice. He had been hoping that he miss heard things earlier or that the feelings only went one way but Lucy wouldn’t look so guilty if that was the case.

“How did … I … How long have you known?” Lucy was stumbling over her words.

“I heard the two of you talking earlier. Dragon hearing.” He leaned back on the rocks with his hands behind his head. He couldn’t seem to bring himself to look at her.

“I’m sorry Natsu. We didn’t mean to hide it from you, we just didn’t know how to tell you.” Lucy was trying to explain herself.

“He makes you happy, right?” Natsu asked and Lucy nodded. He forced himself to grin at her like nothing was wrong. “Than what are you apologizing for? What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t want you happy?”

“Natsu … Thank you.” Lucy felt relieved that Natsu was handling things well. She hadn’t realized how worried she had been until she was confronted about it. Now that both Natsu and Erza knew she felt free. She couldn’t wait to tell Gray.

“Hosenka sounds like fun. We better hurry up and finish this so you can enjoy your vacation.” Natsu was able to give her a genuine grin after seeing the small smile on her face.

Lucy and Natsu enjoyed their soak after that. Happy showed up not long after and Lucy apologized for throwing the mud at him. The bath and talk with Natsu had worked wonders at relaxing her from her stressful day. Little did she know, she wasn’t the only one having an important talk that night.

Up in the hotel Gray was just starting to drift to sleep when he heard someone knocking on the door. He tried to ignore it, figuring it was Natsu or something but the knocking continued. Finally, he got annoyed enough and got up to answer it. “I swear Natsu, if you forgot your key again …”

It wasn’t Natsu at the door. It was Loke. To say Gray was surprised to see his best friend would be a bit of an understatement. Immediately his mind went to reason’s why he would be there with such a serious look on his face. “Loke? Did something happen to Lucy?”

“Lucy’s fine.” He told him. “She’s down in the hot springs with Natsu.” Loke always know where his keyholder was, it was part of the bond they shared. He wasn’t surprised to see the look of jealousy cross the raven haired mans face but he was quick to cover it up.

“Then what are you doing here?” Gray asked.

“Do I need a reason to visit my best friend?” Loke smiled at him but Gray wasn’t buying it. Loke had to push past him to get into the room. He sat down in a chair and made himself comfy.

“Who are you hiding from? Lionetta or Aries?” Gray asked, sitting on the edge of the bed and facing his friend.

“Why would I be hiding from Aries?” This wasn’t what Loke had come to talk about but he was truly interested in why Gray thought he would want to hide from his oldest friend. His and Aries keys had always seemed to land with the same keyholder over and over and as such he knew her better than any of his other Zodiac spirits. He wasn’t supposed to have favorites, being the leader of the Zodiac, but Aries was definitely his favorite.

“Because you like her and now that Lucy is off the table you have no more excuses as to why your avoiding just asking her out already.” Gray stated mater-of-fact.

Loke laughed, “Who says Lucy is off the tables?”

“I do.” Gray’s tone held a hint of warning. He knew Loke and he knew the man enjoyed trying to take women from Gray but this wasn’t a hook up at a bar, this was Lucy. “And I know that you already know that so don’t try and play dumb. I know you’ve been laying on the charm and I would appreciate it if you would knock it off.”

Loke laughed again at Gray’s serious tone. He had been expecting to have to work to get Gray to admit to his relationship with Lucy. “Are you sure I’m the one you have to worry about?”

“Oh, I’m not worried about you, Loke. And I sure as hell ain’t worried about Natsu if that’s what you mean. The only person I’m worried about is Lucy. You know how she is. If she thinks what we have is hurting you or Natsu then she would put an end to it. You know she would. She puts the happiness of everyone else above her own. So back off and let her have this chance.” Gray’s tone became softer as he spoke, a view into how worried he was about this.

Loke ran his hand threw his hair, messing it up. “Man, here I came all ready to threaten you if you hurt Lucy and you’re the one giving me the talk. Not how I planned on this going at all.”

Gray chuckled at that. “I’m full of surprises. So about you and Aries …”

Loke rolled his eyes. “The Lion and the Lamb. A little cliché isn’t it?”

“Sometimes cliché’s work. I know it would make Lucy happy. She’s been working hard on getting Aquarius and Scorpio worked out.” Gray pointed out.

Loke made a face like he was in pain. “Yeah … About that. You might want to let her know not to summon Aquarius for a while. She is on one hell of a rampage. She caught Scorpio in Libra’s bed.”

Gray whistled lowly. “Damn, does he have a death wish?”

“Has to be something like that. He’s trying to make up with her but it’s going to be a while before she calms down. If she finds out Lucy has a boyfriend it’s not going to be pretty. Best protect yourself.” He said.

“I’m used to dealing with crazy water women.” Gray pointed out.

Loke’s tone was suddenly subdued. “How are you going to handle Juvia?”

Gray shrugged, “She’s not all that bad. She will be upset for a little bit but I’m sure she will get over it.” He said, brushing off the concern.

“She’s more dangerous than you give her credit for. Keep her away from Lucy.” Loke said. Gray got the impression that Loke knew something he wasn’t sharing. He thought about pressing the issue but knew Loke was the best secret keeper in the guild. If he didn’t want to say than you wouldn’t know.

“Yeah, sure man.” Gray said in a more serious tone. A minute of silence past before Gray spoke again. “So, about you and Aries?”

Loke laughed at his persistence. The somber mood was lifted after that. The two spent a little time catching up. They hadn’t talked much since the Christmas party. By the time Natsu came back from the bath and Loke was ready to leave gray had managed to get a promise out of Loke. Loke had promised to ask Aries out on a date soon. Of course, soon was a relative term for a Celestial Spirit.

“Hey, Ice Princess?” Natsu said in a hushed tone as he laid in bed. Happy was already fast asleep next to him. He wasn’t sure if Gray was still awake yet or not. He heard Gray sigh but the other man didn’t answer him. At least Natsu knew he was awake. “Look, you hurt Lucy and you have me to deal with, got it? She told me about you and I … Just don’t hurt her.”

Gray wasn’t going to answer at first but thought better of it. Natsu would probably just start yelling at him if he didn’t answer. “Don’t worry, Flame Brain. I won’t hurt her. I’ll let you have the first punch if I do.”

Natsu didn’t answer and soon he was snoring. Gray closed his eyes and tried to put the day of hell behind him. He didn’t know about the women that had snuck into his hotel room. She had been following them all day and it had been hard work to cause all the problems they ran into. She had hated watching Gray have to fight, worried her beloved was going to be hurt, but it was worth it in the end. Her love rival was close to breaking. She had seen it earlier in the day. If she pushed a little more she might be able to win. She had been hoping the Dragon-Slayer would help her but after spying in on his bath she knew that plan wouldn’t work. He wasn’t willing to fight for his love like she was fighting for her Beloved. It didn’t matter to her, she had ways of getting what she wanted. She would have her darling Gray all to herself again soon. Tomorrow she would up her plans. Tonight, she would be content with watching her Beloved sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

Juvia was sitting on the floor beside Gray’s bed. She was resting her head on her arm on top of the sheets. He beloved was sleeping on top of the sheets in just his boxers. Juvia could watch him sleep for the rest of her life. He always looked so peaceful when he slept. It was in contrast to Natsu who was tangled up in his sheets while sprawled across his bed snoring. Juvia was getting ready to leave when there was a bright golden light filling the room and Loke was standing beside her.

“Juvia, what do you think you are doing?” Loke asked, clearly annoyed with her.

“Juvia was just checking on her darling Gray. Juvia worries about him.” Juvia’s face was bright red at being caught red handed in Gray’s room while he slept.

“I know what you have been doing Juvia. I keep a close eye on Lucy and I know you are the one that’s been causing all the bad luck she has experienced. Thus far you haven’t done anything that seriously hurt the princess but I will not tolerate this behavior anymore.” Loke’s tone was quiet and deadly. His tone made it clear he was not to be ignored or disobeyed.

“Juvia does not know what you are talking about.” Juvia said, trying to play innocent.

“I’m serious Juvia.” Loke used his size to tower over the smaller mage. “Go back to Magnolia while you can. If one more thing happens to Lucy I will tell Gray everything you have done.”

Juvia went pale at the threat. Everything she did was for Gray, to help get Lucy away from him, but she knew Gray would be mad. His friends had been put in danger because of her. “Please don’t. My darling wouldn’t understand. Juvia does this because she loves Gray.”

“This isn’t love, Juvia. This is obsession. It is this behavior that pushed Gray away from you.” Loke got some satisfaction out of the stunned look on Juvia’s face. How she never figured that out he wouldn’t ever understand. “Go Juvia, while you still have your friendship.”

Juvia felt burning hot rage for the lion spirit. How dare he question her love? She was going to lash out at him but a particularly loud snore from Natsu reminded her where they were and that her beloved was sleeping a mere foot away from them. She couldn’t wake him, couldn’t let him know she was there. Instead she headed out the window she had come in through, turning into water to sneak under the crack.

Lucy got up before dawn in the morning and went to wake up Gray. It took a while of knocking before he answered the door. Gray was still in just his boxers, hair messed from sleep, rubbing his eyes. Lucy could hear Natsu still snoring on the other side of the door.

“I was going to head down for a morning soak in the springs. I thought maybe you would want to join me?” Lucy gave him a shy smile. She felt a little bit bad for waking him up.

Gray smiled back at her. “Sounds like a plan. Let me get some clothes on.” He quickly threw on a pair of pants and headed down to the hot springs with her.

Juvia hadn’t left for Magnolia. She couldn’t leave her beloved alone, not when she was so close to chasing her love rival away from him. She had stayed so she could keep a close eye on them. She would have to be more thoughtful now that she knew the Lion was watching her. When she heard that he was heading to the hot springs she raced down there and slide herself into the water, becoming one with the water. From here she could keep an eye on everything that happened and no one would know she was there.

Gray and Lucy both got into the hot spring with nothing on but towels. They were the only ones there this early in the morning. The sun was just starting to come over the horizon, painting the sky in pinks and oranges. The light reflected off the steam, causing it to sparkle and there to be small rainbows everywhere. Lucy thought it was beautiful. As much as she loved the stars at night, nothing could beat the beauty of a sunrise.

“It’s beautiful. This was a good idea.” Gray said as he wrapped his arms around her. Lucy’s back was pressed against his chest. The coolness of his skin felt good in the contrast of the hot water and Lucy leaned back into it.

“I’m happy you came along.” Lucy told him.

“A chance to see you in just a towel. What kind of man would I be if I turned that down.” Gray joked. He tightened his hold on her when she tried to turn around and smack him, making it so she just flailed around a little as he laughed.

“You spend to much time with Loke, I swear.” She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.

Gray laughed some more before kissing her neck lightly, causing Lucy to shiver. Lucy relaxed back into him. “I meant coming on this job. I’m happy you came along.” Lucy said softly.

“We are a team, right. That’s what teammates do.” Gray started massaging Lucy’s shoulders, trying to work out some of the stress he felt there.

“I don’t think I could have done this without you. I was ready to give up yesterday.” Lucy admitted.

“You wouldn’t have. Lucy of Fairy Tail never gives up. She faces every challenge that comes her way and overcomes it. You’re what keeps this team together.” The sincerity in Gary’s voice touched Lucy. Lucy turned around so she was facing him.

“You’re just saying that in hopes that I’ll kiss you.” Lucy accused.

“I’m always hoping you’ll kiss me.” Gray said. Lucy chuckled and kissed him lightly. “I did mean it though. You’re called the Light of Fairy Tail for a reason. You bring out the best in everyone. It’s part of what I love about you.”

Lucy couldn’t help but be touched by his words. She wasn’t sure what to say to that so she didn’t say anything. She kissed him again, deeper this time. She let him pull her against him. Let him explore her mouth. She felt his hands starting to wander over her body. She didn’t stop him, it felt good, felt right.

Lucy was just starting to enjoy in impromptu make out session when it felt like something gabbed her ankle and she lost her footing, slipping under the water. Gray quickly pulled her up and held her as she got her feel back under her. She was coughing and trying to catch her breath.

“Are you okay?” Gray asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Lucy checked to make sure her towel was still in place. It was loose but she was still covered thankfully.

“I knew I was a good kisser but I’ve never had a girl literally fall all over me.” Gray teased.

Lucy smacked his chest. “I didn’t fall. It felt like I was pulled under.”

Gray suddenly sobered up at that. For some reason the warning Loke had given him about Juvia the night before came back into his mind. “It’s getting late. We should probably get back on the road.”

Lucy nodded in agreement. She was a little worried about the sudden serious tone Gray had taken. Gray helped her out of the water. He noticed one of her ankles was red like it had been burned slightly by the hot water. When Lucy went in to get changed Gray took a moment to look around the hot spring. He didn’t see any signs of anyone. How would Juvia have even found them? No one knew where they were. He was probably just being paranoid. He shook his head and went to get dressed.

Juvia hid out in the water while the two changed. She had acted foolishly, she knew that. She had to be more careful now with the Lion watching her but she couldn’t stand by and watch them kiss. Watching them had got her boiling angry. She had to do something to stop it. She hadn’t hurt Lucy, although she had thought about it, but no, she let go of her quickly. Juvia had barely left a mark where she had grabbed Lucy’s ankle. But Gray had seen the mark. She feared he might suspect something. What if that Lion had already told Gray what Juvia was doing? No, if he had than Gray would have called her out. He would have known she was there and wouldn’t have looked so confused. She was still safe. Her plan could still work.

The team got packed up and hit the road again. They had three days of walking through bare farmland ahead of them. It was going to be a long, boring three days. It was made worse by the fact Natsu was unnaturally quiet. A fact that wasn’t missed by any of them. Whenever someone tried to ask what was wrong he would deny anything was wrong. Lucy took some enjoyment when it came to waking Gray for his watch but even that was reserved to chaste kisses seeing he was now sharing a tent with Natsu. Lucy was almost missing the near constant monster attacks from the mountains. The only good thing was it looked like Lucy may have outlived the curse.

It had been raining for the most part during the trip. Nothing like it had in the mountains, just a few quick showers during the day. It was just enough to keep everything wet and gloomy. It was almost enough to make Lucy wish she could hide out in Horologium for the rest of the trip. She was actually a little proud of herself for not breaking down and calling the clock spirit. Not that she hadn’t been tempted a few times.

It wasn’t until the evening of the third day when things changed. They were making camp when Natsu said he was going to try fishing in a near by river that Happy had found. The exceed had been complaining for three days now about the lack of fish and, honestly, everyone was getting tired of it. Lucy was starting to really appreciate just how volatile her team was and with nothing to do for three days except fight amongst each other they were all starting to get a little short tempered. Natsu’s continued bad mood wasn’t helping.

Lucy had been trying to keep spirts up. She would summon Plue to walk with them and when they were at camp she would bring out Loke or Lionetta. Loke was always fun and when you got him and Gray together they could be quite the terror against Lucy. Luckily Gray had giving Lucy the details about Loke agreeing to go out with Aries and she could always use that to turn the table against him if he got too feisty.

Lionetta was always full of energy and aside from healing their aching muscles she always seemed to lift their spirits. The young spirt clearly had a crush on Natsu too which Lucy found to be adorable. She was always blushing around him and made sure to check him over before anyone other than Lucy. Happy had made a joke about it once that didn’t go over well.

“I think she liiiiiikes you, Natsuuuu.” Happy had half sung one night after Lionetta had returned to the Celestial world.

“Why would I care what a little girl thinks? That’s gross!” Natsu had snapped at Happy. All the noise seemed to evaporate from the surrounding area. Natsu was never that mean to Happy.

Happy’s eyes got huge and full of tears. “Natsu…?”

“Just leave me alone, Happy.” Natsu said, laying on his side with his back to them.

No one had known what to say after that. No one had said much to Natsu since then. Happy had refused to even look at Natsu. Lucy hoped that going fishing was Natsu’s way of trying to make up with his friend. As it was, clearly someone was going to have to talk with Natsu and somehow Lucy had gotten volunteered.

Lucy sat down next to Natsu at the rivers edge. The river was flowing quickly and there were a lot of large rocks in the current. It was exactly the type of water Lucy would think about fishing in. Natsu already had his line in the water when Lucy came up. He didn’t look at her as she sat down.

“Do you think you can catching anything in that current?” Lucy asked, trying to start a conversation.

“Probably not but won’t know until I try.” Natsu gave her his classic big grin. “Happy will never forgive me if I don’t.”

“Oh, so you are aware you hurt his feelings?” She asked, trying to keep her tone light and not accusatory.

Natsu sighed and his shoulders fell. “Yeah. I was a bit of a jerk.”

“What’s wrong? What’s been bothering you?” Lucy asked, already knowing the answer she was going to get.

“Nothing.” It was short, simple, and clearly a lie.’

“Natsu, I can’t help if you won’t talk to me.” She told him.

“I’m fine.” He grinned at her again. “Or I will be once I get some fish for Happy.”

Lucy sat with Natsu for a little while. It started to get dark and it looked like he was no closer to opening up to her or catching any fish. Natsu wasn’t really paying attention to the fish. He was focused on the Strawberry and vanilla scent next to him. How was he supposed to tell Lucy that his problem was her? Her and the ice princess. He had told her he was fine with it but he wasn’t, not really. It was the same feeling he had when he let a bad guy get away. He was double thinking everything, wondering where he had messed up. He should have said something to Lucy sooner but he thought he had time, all the time in the world. Now that time had past and he didn’t know what to do.

“Why don’t we call it a night?” Lucy suggested once it was getting to dark for her to see.

“You go ahead, I want to try for a little longer. I’m getting close, I can feel it.” Natsu told her.

Lucy stood up and brushed some dirt off of her hands. She suddenly felt two hands on her back and she was tipping forward to the water. She reached out blindly to try and stop her fall but there was nothing to hold onto. One moment she was standing the next she was plunged into the icy water and getting swept away downstream.

“Lucy!” Natsu didn’t even think twice before jumping into the water after Lucy. He didn’t know what had happened, he had been to lost in his own head. He didn’t even know Lucy had been falling until the water splashed him in the face. He was letting this whole thing with Gray distract him too much.

Lucy was fighting to stay above water. The current was to strong for her to fight against it. She was repeatedly thrown into rocks, each one knocked the breath out of her. Before she could recover from the impact and grab ahold she was swept to the next one and the cycle repeated. Lucy reached for her keys but stopped before she pulled them out. If she lost hold of them in this water she would never find them again. She couldn’t risk losing her friends.

Lucy heard Natsu shouting for her. Thought she could see his pink hair over the waves. The current was getting stronger and it was harder for her to keep her head above the waters surface. She tried to call out to Natsu but only got a mouth full of water. The next rock hit her hard on the side of the head. She heard Natsu, he sounded closer, but her world was quickly going black. She couldn’t keep herself up anymore, couldn’t fight the river. She closed her eyes and left the water take her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little shorter. I wanted to keep the next longer part together. I'll have that up in a few days


	10. Chapter 10

It was well past dark and neither Natsu or Lucy had returned to camp. Dinner had already been made and there was plates waiting for them. Tents were set up and Erza’s guard duty was already set to start but there was still no sign of half their team. They were all starting to get worried but it was Gray who was the first to vocalize this.

“They should be back by now. Natsu can’t honestly be fishing when it’s this dark.” Gray said, looking in the direction of the river.

“Maybe their busy.” Happy said before making kissy faces in Gray’s direction.

“You do know I’m dating Lucy, right Happy?” Gray asked the Exceed, judging by the shocked look he got in return he would guess the answer was no.

“What?! Does Natsu know?” Happy asked, bug-eyed.

“Yeah, everyone knows.” Gray told him.

“Why am I the last one to know?” Happy cried.

“You were the first one to make fun of us. How did you not know?” Gray said to himself, still looking in the direction Lucy and Natsu should be. “Happy, you know where they went. Can you check on them for me. Tell Natsu food is ready, that should get him back here.”

“Aye Sir!” Happy did a mock salute to Gray before flying off in the direction of the river.

Happy had decent night vision considering he was a cat but even he had a hard time seeing in the darkness of the night. It was partly cloudy and the night of the new moon so he had little light to help guide him. He quickly found the river but it took several more minutes for him for find Natsu’s fishing spot. It wasn’t surprising that it took him a while to find it seeing the only thing there was Natsu’s fishing pole and his bag. There was no sign of either of his friends.

Happy flew around the area in circles, calling out for Natsu and Lucy. He didn’t get an answer from either of them. Happy wasn’t sure how long he looked for them but he didn’t head back to camp until his wings were so tired they could hardly carry him. It was with a heavy heart he had to grab Natsu’s things and go back to camp.

Gray was still awake when Happy returned and he was clearly agitated. Gray had been pacing the camp site while waiting for Happy. With every minute that passed he became more worried. His mind had wondered to crazy ideas of what could have happened. What if they were attacked by Vulcans or some other monster? But that didn’t make since. They would have seen the light from Natsu’s fire if they had been in a battle. What if Lucy wasn’t crazy and the curse was real and some weird accident happened? What if Happy was right and she was getting alone time with Natsu? Gray immediately pushed those thoughts aside. Even if Lucy did change her mind about Natsu she would tell him, she wouldn’t sneak around behind his back. Lucy was a better person than that.

“What took you so long?” He snapped when he saw Happy flying towards them. As soon as the Exceed got into the camp his wings disappeared and he fell to the ground still holding Natsu’s bag. “Where is Natsu and Lucy? Did you find them?”

Happy was crying and Gray didn’t even notice. It was Erza who came over and picked up the exhausted Exceed. “Happy, what’s wrong? Where are the others?”

“Oh Erza!” Happy cried into Erza’s chest. “I couldn’t find them. I looked everywhere. They just vanished.”

“What do you mean you couldn’t find them!” Gray was more shocked than angry at Happy.

Erza was trying to calm Happy down to figure out what had happened. It took a few minutes, precious time in Gray’s mind, before Happy was calm enough to explain.

“I found where Natsu had been fishing but he and Lucy weren’t there. I looked all over for them but they were just gone. It didn’t look like there was a fight or anything.” He told them. “I tried to find them. I really did.” He insisted when he saw the fear and frustration in Gray’s face.

“You did you’re best.” Erza assured him.

“I’m going to go look for myself.” Gray said as he started to walk in the direction Happy had come from. Erza grabbed his shoulder to stop him.

“There is no point going out there tonight. You will only get lost yourself. We will stay in camp and keep the fire going tonight in hopes they will find their way back. We can look for them in the morning when there is light.” Erza tried to explain things calmly to Gray.

Gray knew she was right but it only frustrated him more. He wanted to go find Lucy. He couldn’t understand how Erza could be so calm about all of this. Didn’t she care at all that their friends were missing? He was about to accuse her of that very thing when he noticed the tightness around her eyes, the carefully hidden worry on her face.

“Yeah, you’re right.” Gray sighed. Erza let go of him and he sat next to the fire. He wasn’t going to be able to sleep, not until Lucy was back.

 _How are you going to handle Juvia? She’s more dangerous than you give her credit for. Keep her away from Lucy._ For some reason Loke’s warning came back to Gray again. Could Loke know something about Juvia that Gray didn’t? He again found himself wondering if she was somewhere nearby. It was a crazy thought but he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being watched.

The first thing Lucy became aware of was the pain in her head. It felt like her skull had been split in two. She tried to raise her hand to touch it but her arm didn’t move. She couldn’t move anything. Any time she tried to move her body was racked with pain. She was also cold, so very cold. She couldn’t remember ever being this cold, but she wasn’t shivering. Why wasn’t she shivering if she was so cold?

Lucy could feel warmth to her right side. It felt so hot it was almost burning but it felt good at the same time. She wanted to get closer the that warmth, curl around it, even if it burned her. She didn’t care if the heat killed her as long as she was warm while it happened.

Lucy tried to move herself closer to the source of heat but her body was just raked with pain again. She screamed out and her eyes snapped open from the intensity of it. Lucy didn’t realize her eyes had been closed until now. As she looked around everything seemed bright and dark at the same time. It was like looking at a world of shadows surrounded by glowing light. It was oddly beautiful but it made her headache significantly worse. She quickly shut her eyes again.

“Lucy! You’re awake.” The voice came from Lucy’s right. The same direction the warmth was. She recognized the voice but her fuzzy brain wasn’t working well enough to tell her who it was. The wall of heat suddenly was moving closer her, touching her. It was so hot, to hot. She felt like it might just burn her alive.

“Stop!” She shouted and tried to move away from the heat. This only caused pain to explode across her body again and she screamed louder. The pain in her head intensified and her world spun, before she knew what was happening she was losing the contents of her stomach. It was thankfully only bile but the act of vomiting was just as painful as her attempts to move. She wanted to cry from the agony of it all but she knew that would only bring more pain.

“Shit, Luce, I’m sorry.” The voice was speaking to her again, the heat moving closer. She didn’t move away this time, having learned her lesson on that. The heat didn’t touch her this time, instead something wet brushed against her mouth. Vaguely she understood the person next to her was wiping off her mouth for her.

“We need that little girl spirt of yours.” The voice told her. She was now able to tell it was a males voice but her brain still wasn’t working correctly. She couldn’t understand what the words he was saying meant. She could understand the meaning of each word but together they sounded like gibberish.

Lucy felt the heat moving closer to her again and she involuntarily flinched away from it. The heat centered around her hip and she could hear the pop of a button and the jingle of metal on metal. Lucy tried to open her eyes and see what was going on but the second she did she was hit with another wave of nausea and she quickly closed them again.

“Why do these all have to look the same?” The man was talking again. It didn’t sound like he was talking to her anymore. “Is it this one? No the gold ones are all the animal people. It has to be one of the silver ones. Gah! When did you get so many of these things!”

The man’s voice was loud and it made her head hurt more. The closeness of his warmth felt good and she could feel herself slipping back into unconsciousness. There was a little voice in her head that told her not too, it was telling her to stay awake. But staying awake was hard. She was so tired and the pain was starting to go away.

Suddenly it felt like something was pushing and pulling at her chest at the same time. It wasn’t a painful feeling but it felt … strange yet familiar. She tried to fight against the feeling but she couldn’t remember how. It was starting to become frustrating that her brain refused to work correctly. Suddenly there was a bright light that blinded her even with her eyes closed. A second male voice joined the first.

“She’s too weak for that Natsu.” The new man said. The name Natsu was familiar and suddenly she could picture what the first man looked like. Natsu, he was her friend, he was where all the heat was coming from. She could suddenly remember everything about him.

“Loke! You have to help Lucy!” Natsu shouted. Loke, she could remember that name too. She could picture him just as clearly as she could now picture Natsu.

“I can’t. I don’t have that kind of power.” Loke’s voice sounded tense, like he was angry about something.

“Get that girl out here then! She’s your daughter, right? She can help Lucy!” Natsu was still shouting and it was hurting Lucy’s head.

“Shhh” She tried to hush him but her mouth didn’t want to work.

“That’s not how it works, Natsu. Lionetta isn’t strong enough to open her own gate like me and Virgo can. We are all Lucy has right now.” Loke said. He sounded like he was talking to a child. Lucy’s fuzzy brain found this funny for some reason but she couldn’t laugh.

“What do we do?” Natsu was quieter, he sounded lost.

“We have to get her warmed up.” Loke said. Lucy felt the heat next to her intensify. Natsu said something but she didn’t hear it. The heat was unbearable. Was the man trying to cook her? She couldn’t take it and she tried moving away again even though it hurt.

“Natsu! No!” She shouted as pain filled her yet again. Her head spun and her stomach rolled and she was vomiting again.

“Natsu, we have to do this slowly!” She heard Loke shouting and, thankfully, the overwhelming heat died down. She risked opening her eyes to try and find Loke. He looked like an angel with the white light that was surrounding him. She smiled slightly at him before she closed her eyes again and groaned in pain.

“We are going to have to get you out of your wet clothes, princesses. You won’t like it but I promise to enjoy it enough for the both of us.” Loke said. She could hear the forced tone behind his teasing. She was mildly aware he was trying to make her feel better, remove some of her worry. She reached her arm out in the direction she had seen him and weakly smacked the leg she felt there. It had hurt but her mind told her it was the right thing to do. She heard Loke chuckle lightly and knew the pain was worth it to give her friend some of the comfort he was trying to give her.

When Lucy felt Natsu move closer to her again she flinched. His body heat was just to much for her to handle right then. She didn’t see what happened but he stopped moving towards her and after a second she felt his warmth moving away. Next thing she knew she felt someone touching her chest. She was aware that it must be Loke since the touch was pleasantly warm and not burning. There was a tearing sound and then the cold, wet, weight that had been on her chest was lifted. It was easier for her to breath now and this feeling of being trapped was lifted. There was more tearing sounds and her legs felt lighter, free.

Lucy’s mind was slow to process what was happening. She felt something soft moving across her skin. It felt nice and left her slightly warmer wherever it touched. By the time her brain caught up with the fact Loke had torn her clothes off and dried her, she was being carefully pulled into his arms and lifted from the ground. Any embarrassment she might have felt was driven out by the pain. She could pin point where the pain was now. Her right arm and hip, her left leg, her back and stomach, her head was still the worse of it.

“We need to find shelter for the night.” Loke said. Lucy could feel the words rumble in his chest.

“Shouldn’t we head back to the others?” Natsu asked.

“Lucy isn’t in any shape to travel. Besides, there is no way of knowing how far you two traveled down the river before you got to shore.” Loke pointed out. He was starting to walk somewhere, Lucy was bouncing slightly with his steps. Even though she kept her eyes shut she could picture Natsu looking around, trying to smell out Gray, Erza, or Happy. He must not have been able to because she heard him run to catch up with Loke.

Loke was warm and Lucy was finally starting to shiver in his arms. She was no longer sleepy and all her pains seemed her be intensifying as she warmed up. It was almost enough to make her want to push away from Loke. She would rather be cold then feel all this pain. Each step he took hurt her more then the last. Eventually she couldn’t take it any more and screamed in pain when her hip bumped against his body.

“We are almost there, Princesses.” He told her.

“Where are we going?” Natsu asked. “Didn’t you say Lucy shouldn’t be traveling?”

“Pyxis says there is a building over this way. It will offer shelter from any weather and you will be able to warm the inside and slowly warm Lucy in the process.” Loke explained. Lucy found herself smiling in pride at her friend. He really was a good leader.

It was only a few minutes later when Lucy felt herself being lowered onto a wooden floor. She risked opening her eyes to look around. The halo around everything had faded. She couldn’t see well in the darkness of the room. It looked like it might be some type of old shed but she couldn’t be sure.

“I can’t stay any longer. It’s up to you to watch over her. She needs to be warmed up slowly, Natsu, slowly. Don’t let her fall asleep until she is able to be seen by Lionetta.” Loke told the Dragon-Slayer. She heard the jingle of metal and realized it was her keys. Natsu must still have them. “When she is feeling better this is the key that will summon Lionetta. Don’t push her, Natsu, she will know when she is ready to try opening the gate.”

“Yeah, don’t worry man, I got this.” Natsu said, Lucy could hear the fear behind his confident tone.

Lucy heard Loke walk over and kneel down next to her. She looked up at him and for the first time she could see the fear and guilt on his face. She must look worse than she felt for him to look at her like that. It was the same look of guilt he had when he told her about Karen. Lucy made a promise to herself right then that she was going to be alright, she wouldn’t allow Loke to go through that pain again.

“I never should have let things get this far. I’m sorry Lucy.” He told her. He laid a wool blanket over her and she was mildly aware it was one of Aries. Her mind must still be fuzzy because she couldn’t understand what he was talking about. What did he have to be sorry for?

“Loke?” She tried to ask him what he meant, ask him to explain, but she couldn’t get that many words to form.

“We will talk later, Princesses, rest now.” Loke said before disappearing in a sparkle of golden light.

It was a long night for both Natsu and Lucy. It took hours before Lucy was warm enough to tolerate Natsu touching her. He had been talking to her about mostly nonsense all night, trying to keep her awake. He had apologized about a hundred times for not catching her when she fell. Her mind was still fuzzy on what happened before she fell but she still assured him it wasn’t his fault. Once he was able to touch her, Natsu laid down next to her and carefully wrapped himself around her. He didn’t seem to have nearly the injuries that Lucy did.

“Lucy, I’m sorry …” Natsu said for the hundred and tenth time.

“Natsu, it’s not like you pushed me into the river. I fell.” Lucy told him yet again.

“I’m the reason you were even out there. If I wasn’t being such a jerk you wouldn’t have been there.” He said. He was speaking quietly, his breath bushing against her ear as he spoke. In any other situation this would feel extremely intimate. Lucy was only in her bra and panties with Natsu half naked holding her as close as a lover. If it wasn’t for the injuries and blood it would almost be a romantic scene.

“You could tell me about it.” Lucy still had holes in her memory. She could remember their mission, remembered everything up until about two days ago. That’s when things started to get fuzzy. She tried to put the pieces back together but it only made her head hurt more.

Natsu didn’t say anything at first. The silence grew to be almost suffocating. Just when Lucy couldn’t take it any more Natsu spoke. “I like you, Luce, a lot. I wanted to tell you while on this job but I guess I was too late.”

“You … like me?” Lucy asked. She didn’t know why the idea startled her as much as it did. Everyone was always saying that Natsu liked her. It shouldn’t surprise her and in a way it didn’t. She was more surprised that he had admitted to it. Natsu didn’t answer her question, in fact, he moved away from her.

“You’re with ice boy, so it doesn’t matter.” He was now sitting next to her. “I just think that maybe if I had said something …”

“Gray asked about you.” Lucy told him. “Before he even told me he liked me, he asked about my feelings for you.”

Natsu looked at her, total surprise on his face. “He did? What did you say?”

“At the time, I wasn’t sure. I had to think about it for a long time before I could give a true answer. The truth is I do love you, Natsu. But you’re like a brother to me. It took a lot longer than it should have for me to understand the love I feel for you is different than romantic love.” Lucy hoped that Natsu could understand that.

“So I never had a chance?” He asked.

“Actually, if you had asked me before Gray, I probably would be dating you right now.” She told him, honestly. She saw the stunned look on his face that slowly dissolved into melancholy. “But it wouldn’t have lasted and it would have ruined our friendship. In the end I’m glad things turned out this way. I don’t know if things with Gray will last or not but if it does fall apart and me and him can’t be friends anymore, I might be able to live with that. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I ruined our friendship.”

“So you care more for me than you do Gray?” Natsu asked.

“I wouldn’t say more, just different. You both mean a lot to me and I don’t want to hurt either of you.” She watched Natsu absorb all the information she had given him. For once he wasn’t trying to be silly or act like everything was okay. It made her feel guilty, even ashamed, but it was honest. When he gave a small smile and nod before laying back down with her, Lucy knew it meant things would be alright. It wasn’t an instant fix but Natsu was able to understand how she saw things and everything would work itself out.

“Why don’t I try summoning Lionetta now?”


	11. Chapter 11

“Lady Lucy!” Lionetta shouted when she appeared in the rundown building. Her loud, bubbly voice was rough on Lucy’s headache. Lucy had managed not to throw up again tonight but it was an ongoing battle. Lionetta had almost tackled Lucy when she first showed up, only Natsu grabbing her had stopped her. She was now held tightly against Natsu. Her concern for Lucy was overpowering her nervousness around Natsu.

“Daddy said you were hurt really badly. He wasn’t lying.” Natsu let the girl go so she could take a look at Lucy. Her fingers lightly brushed over Lucy, taking in the injuries. “Sever concussion, fractured skull, arm and hip broken, sprained ankle again, contusion to ribs five thru eight and patella, not to mention all the soft tissue injuries.”

Lucy knew she had been through the ringer but to her the list of injuries she sustained it was shocking. Lionetta took her time healing each injury one at a time. She started with the concussion and broken bones as they were the most severe and worked her way down to every last scrape and bruise. She had tears in her eyes while she worked but she didn’t let them distract her. It was her job to make Lady Lucy better, everyone was counting on her. When she was done she turned to work on Natsu.

“Don’t worry about me. I’m fine.” Natsu told her. He could tell the spirt was tired. There had been a lot to do with Lucy and it had taken the better part of an hour for Lionetta to finish everything.

“But, Sir Natsu you are injured too.” She protested. Natsu had some scrapes and bruises. He wouldn’t be shocked if he had one or more broken ribs but it wasn’t anything he wasn’t use too.

“I’ve had worse. Thanks for worrying though.” He said and he gave the girl his large, signature grin. “You’re the best Lionetta.”

Lionetta turned bright red and stumbled her way through a thank you. Natsu gave her a tight hug before she returned to the Celestial World. Within a minute of Lionetta leaving, Lucy was fast asleep. Natsu figured that she probably needed the sleep to finish healing everything and went outside to see if he could figure out where they were and what way it was to camp.

Happy was the only one that got any sleep that night. The Exceed had tried to stay up and wait for his friend but he was simply to tired after using up his magic power searching. Gray had busied himself keeping the fire going and packing up the campsite. By the time the sun was starting to rise he was already heading to the water with Happy. Erza had been chosen to stay behind and guard over the cargo.

“This is where I found Natsu’s stuff.” Happy said, showing Gray the spot that the two had been fishing. Now that there was some day light you could see marks in the muddy riverbank. It was clear from the marks that the two had been sitting there and it looked like someone fell in.

“Lucy?” Gray said as he looked closer at the skid marks in the mud. The rivers current was still ridiculously fast. If one of them fell in they would have been swept away in a heartbeat. They could be miles away before the current slowed enough for them to make it out. If they made it out.

“Happy, I want you to follow the river. See if you can spot them from the air. I’ll get Erza and we will start following on land.” Gray had to hope that they weren’t too far down stream.

“Aye sir!” Happy agreed before taking off down the river. Gray went back to where he left Erza and the two of them started heading down the riverbank with the horse drawn cart behind them.

Happy was following the river for over an hour before he noticed anything different. The current had slowed down by this part of the river and Happy noticed something blue on the bank next to the river. He flew down to get a closer look and discovered it was Lucy’s pants with her shirt close by.

“Lucy’s running around without any clothes on.” Happy snickered to himself, his paws barely covering the smirk on his face.

Happy took back to the sky, looking for more signs of his friends, calling out for them. Natsu was sitting outside the storage shed that he and Lucy had been using as shelter when he heard faint calls. The sound slowly got louder until he was able to recognize it was Happy calling out for him and Lucy.

“Happy! Over here!” He shouted in the direction he could here his friend. A moment later a blue ball barreled into Natsu’s chest at full speed. The Exceed was sobbing in relief at finally finding his best friend. “What’s wrong little buddy?”

“Natsu, you’re such a jerk. How could you just disappear like that?” Happy continued to cry.

Natsu laughed. “I didn’t even catch any fish. What kind of friend am I?”

“A rotten kind.” Happy said but he was smiling at Natsu, his tears finally stopping. “Where’s Lucy?”

“Sleeping.” Natsu pointed to the shed. “Where are Gray and Erza?”

“They were following along the river. I was told to find you and bring you back.” Happy told him, landing on the ground at Natsu’s feet. “Let’s get Lucy and go.”

Natsu was going to argue the idea. Lucy had been through a lot last night and she needed rest. She had hardly been asleep for two hours at this point. Surely that wasn’t enough to make up for everything. Before he got the chance to Lucy came out of the shed. She was wearing a dark green halter top with detached sleeves that had white bows on them. She had on a gray skirt and boots with white leggings. Virgo must have brought her clothes from the Celestial World. The outfit would be a nice match with what Gray wore when he visited the Celestial World.

“Happy, is that you?” Lucy asked.

“Lucy!” Happy flew at her like he had when he saw Natsu. Lucy laughed a little at how excited the Exceed was to see her.

“Are you sure you should be up, Lucy?” Natsu asked, his concern obvious.

“Yeah, I feel good as new.” She actually felt better then that thanks to Lionetta. She had asked Virgo to thank her again for Lucy. She had also thanked Virgo for thinking ahead and bringing her new clothes. She was going to have a talk with Loke later about never, ever mentioning what happened again. As it was, Virgo had told Lucy that Loke wanted to speak with everyone once they were reunited. He had been taking everything pretty hard.

Lucy had learned from Virgo that Loke was blaming himself for not watching her close enough. He had apparently been out on his big date with Aries. She had caught wind of his promise to Gray and seeing the last three days had been uneventful he had taken her out so she wouldn’t get upset at his waiting. This, of course, meant that Aries was blaming herself as much or possibly more than Loke was. Lucy loved that her friends cared so much for her but she hated that they were putting their lives on hold just to look after her. She was a big girl and could take care of herself. When she wasn’t slipping in the mud anyways.

Her mind was still fuzzy on the details of the last few days. She could remember going to the river to talk with Natsu. She could remember them talking but not what was said. She could remember getting up to head back to camp. After that she just remembers the feeling of cold and pain. She felt like she was forgetting something important but for the life of her she couldn’t remember what. She thought about it the whole walk back to the river and while waiting for Gray and Erza to catch up to them.

When they did finally catch up to them Gray ran over to Lucy and pulled her into a tight hug. Lucy clung to him. She was suddenly overcome by her exhaustion and more emotions then she could comprehend. It was just setting in that she had almost died. If Natsu hadn’t gotten her out of the water, if she didn’t have Lionetta, she might not be here right now. This all hit her like a train and she just broke down in Gray’s arms.

“Lucy? What’s wrong?” Gray asked, trying to comfort her. Lucy was to upset to even get words out.

“Luce, there’s no need to cry.” Natsu tried, He was never good at comforting people.

“We are all together again. You are both alright. There is nothing to be upset about.” Erza told her. Lucy wiped at her eyes and gave her friends a weak smile.

“You’re right, I’m fine.” Lucy said as Gray wiped her tears away.

“I’m never letting you out of my sight again.” He told her before kissing her forehead. He had been terrified the whole night about losing her. He relived the pain of losing his parents, losing Ur, of Lyon abandoning him. Lucy was the first person he had opened up to. With her by his side he had opened up to Erza and Natsu. He had people that mattered to him again, he had a family again. He would never admit it but he had been just as worried about Natsu as he had been about Lucy. Natsu was like a bother to him, an annoying brother that he never wanted, but a brother.

Juvia was hiding behind some rocks a few yards down wind from the group. She watched the reunion feeling slightly sick at herself. She had never ment for Lucy to be hurt so badly. A fall like that wouldn’t have hurt Juvia at all, the Fire Slayer wasn’t hurt after jumping in. She didn’t think about what might have happened. She just figured Lucy would get swept away downstream. She would be taken far away and get lost, maybe decide to go home. She didn’t want Lucy hurt badly she just wanted her away from Gray.

Juvia listened as Lucy told the others about what had happened. She didn’t remember falling, lucky for Juvia. Juvia did feel guilt and shame when Lucy recounted her injuries, how she was grateful to Natsu for saving her. Juvia had been stupid, she hadn’t thought things through. She had seen an opportunity and she took it. What if Loke had seen her? What if Natsu had? She couldn’t take risks like that anymore.

Her heart constricted when she saw Gray place his jacket around Lucy. He had stripped his shirt off as well and was holding her close. She had watched overnight as he worried about the blonde. She had watched and fought the urge to comfort him. Seeing him now, how he cared for Lucy, how he treated her like something precious to him. It was breaking Juvia’s heart. She had to turn away, she couldn’t watch anymore. She had cried to much this back week, she wouldn’t let herself cry anymore.

Juvia desperately wanted someone to hold her like that. She wanted someone to care about her, worry about her. She was all alone, always alone. No one cared if Juvia vanished. No one cared when Juvia left or if she ever came back. Juvia knew people didn’t like having her around. She didn’t bring rain with her anymore but Juvia knew people thought she was odd, that she was obsessed. Everyone in Fairy Tail was nice to Juvia but only Gray had ever worried about her, cared if she was happy. After a life of being alone all Juvia wanted was for someone to love her.

Lucy was sitting on the cart, snuggled into Gray’s arms. They were back on the road again, heading for their next camp site. She was still shaken up about everything that had happened and Gray could tell. He had been the one that insisted she take it easy today. He hadn’t been joking about not letting her out of his sight and stayed near her. He and Natsu had been taking turns sitting with her while Erza lead the group and Happy circled in the air.

She was grateful to have both boys watching out for her, it made her feel safe. Her memory was still fuzzy and at this point she was sure she would never fully remember what happened the night before. Natsu said she had slipped in the mud but she felt uneasy about that. For some reason Lucy felt like something else had happened. She felt like something was after her and it wasn’t just her superstition about the curse. She felt it deep inside that something or someone didn’t want her there. That feeling kept her on edge and was the reason she kept close to the boys. She had spent the last two hours with Natsu’s head in her lap as she tried to calm his motion sickness and now she was in Gray’s lap, not caring what the others thought about it.

Natsu was in a better mood today than he had been in. Neither he nor Lucy had brought up their talk in the shed. If fact they had glossed over the fact he spent the night pressed against her mostly naked body. They didn’t think it was worth mentioning, making Gray jealous about. Lucy had even heard Natsu warning Happy to keep quiet about it. Their talk had seemed to help Natsu in the end. He wasn’t fully his happy self but he was better.

Lucy felt her keys warm against her leg and heard Loke’s voice in her head. He was wanting to talk with them, swore it was important. Lucy had been dealing with him all morning. When he had first shown up at the river she had yelled at him about removing her clothes.

“I might not remember everything Loke, but I know you. I know you said something perverted, I know it.” Lucy had snapped at him. She didn’t know why she was so angry with him but she felt the need to yell at someone. “I’m not in the mood to deal with you.”

“Please, Lucy, I need to talk with you. It’s impor-“ Loke started but Lucy cut him off.

“No, you NEED to go and finish your date with Aries. That poor girl deserves better than what you’re giving her.” Lucy pointed her finger at him in warning. “I swear if you break her heart …”

“Princess, this is important.” Loke tried again.

“Loke, I’ve had a really long night. Just please go away. Finish your date with Aries. If you don’t I’ll … I’ll … I don’t know what I’ll do but it wont be pleasant.” Her head had been hurting to much to really argue with him but he had relented and returned to the Celestial world.

It seemed like almost every hour since Loke had reached out to her and tried to talk her into listening to him. Now she was refusing out of shear stubbornness. She had told him he had to go on his date with Aries and she would be damned if she was going to drop that condition now.

“Lucy, can I please speak with you.” She heard his voice in her head.

“Did you finish your date?” She asked back.

“Yes, it was very nice.” It was Aries shy voice she heard now. “I’m sorry I caused so much trouble.”

“It was no trouble at all.” Lucy assured her. “Loke, I hope you were a gentleman.”

“I am always the gentleman.” Loke said as he appeared before Lucy and Gray in a sparkle of golden light.

“That’s Loke code for I didn’t get lucky.” Gray informed Lucy who giggled slightly at the annoyed looked the man was giving Gray.

“Maybe I would have if I wasn’t having to babysit your girlfriend.” Any sign of Loke’s normally playful mood was gone. He looked to be on the boarder of pissed off.

“I don’t need you to baby sit me, Loke.” Lucy told him. He was her most loyal spirit but sometimes that crossed over into overprotective.

“Not you, Juvia.” Loke said.

Gray groaned and rolled his eyes. Loke was going on again about Juvia. Gray had just managed to push the crazy warning Loke had given him out of his head but now it seemed like Loke was going to bring it up again.

“What about Juv’s?” Natsu asked. He, Erza, and Happy and come over to join the conversation.

“She is trying to hurt Lucy.” Loke told them.

“Why would she want to hurt me?” Lucy asked.

“Juvia isn’t even here, Loke, she is back in Magnolia.” Gray told him.

“No she isn’t.” Happy said and everyone looked at him.

“What do you mean?” Erza asked.

“She came up to the mountains to visit those hot springs. I saw her the day you were all almost crushed by the rocks.” Happy told them, looking confused at the fact they didn’t already know this. “I told you …. Oh I must have forgotten.”

“You forgot? What kind of look out are you!” Lucy grabbed for the cat but he flew out of her reach.

“I’m sorry Lucy, I knew there was something important I had to tell you.” Happy said, hiding behind Natsu.

Lucy sighed and leaned into Gray when he put an arm around her. “That still doesn’t explain why she would want to hurt me.”

Lucy’s statement was met by four pairs for disbelieving eyes. Everyone was looking at her like she was some kind of idiot. Only Gray wasn’t looking at her, he was looking down guiltily.

“Lucy, you know how she feels about Gray.” Erza said, trying to help Lucy put the pieces together.

“She’s not that bad.” Gray tried saying. “A little creepy but she isn’t as obsessed as everyone thinks.”

“Her room at Fairy Hills is full of pictures and dolls of you.” Erza pointed out.

“She used to follow us on jobs before joining Fairy Tail. I recognized her scent.” Natsu added.

“I caught her in your hotel room in Calidi.” Loke finished.

“She was in my room?!” Gray’s eyes went wide in shock. He knew Juvia followed him around the guildhall but he had no idea she stalked him out on jobs. The thought of her sneaking into his hotel room was making him feel a little sick. If she would sneak in there than where else might she have been spying on him at? He really didn’t want to think about that.

Lucy put a comforting hand on Gray’s leg. “None of this means she is trying to hurt me.”

“Juvia admitted it to me. I told her to go back to Magnolia. I promised if she did I wouldn’t tell anyone.” Loke said. “It was stupid of me to think she would listen.”

“Why are you telling us now?” Natsu asked.

“You don’t think she is why Lucy fell into the river, do you?” Happy asked.

“I do.” He said simply.

“But you have no proof. You don’t know for sure it was Juvia. I just fell Loke. It was muddy and I slipped. If Juvia was there Natsu would have smelled her, right Natsu?” Lucy didn’t like the idea that her friend could have been the cause of everything that was happening. She would rather think it was a curse trying to do her in. Anything but someone she called a friend.

“I wasn’t really paying attention.” Natsu admitted it. “Besides with all the rain it’s hard to smell anything. I can barely smell any of you let alone someone trying to stay hidden.”

Lucy knew this, it was the reason Happy was scouting from above. The wet just absorbed all the sounds and scents and made Natsu’s enhanced senses just about useless. She still refused to believe that Juvia would have hurt her.

“I think I would know if someone was trying to hurt me. Juvia might have just been up here for the hot springs. You all know Calidi is famous for its springs. She probably had no idea we were up here. She is probably already back in Magnolia by now.” No one seemed to have the same hope that Lucy did.

“Lucy …” Gray didn’t want to believe it either. He had seen the old Juvia, the one from Phantom Lord, acting the way they described but he didn’t like thinking her capable of it now. But the fact was, he knew there was a part of her that was capable, a part of her that was impulsive and cruel. Most of the guild had been weary of Gajeel because he had played such a large part in the battle with Phantom Lord but Gray had fought with Juvia. She acted strongly based on her emotions even back then when she had seemed cold and distant. Since joining Fairy Tail she had learned to embrace her emotions and was stronger because of it. That didn’t mean she couldn’t be impulsive anymore.

“No, Gray. I won’t believe my friend is hurting me! Juvia wouldn’t do this. She’s part of Fairy Tail, she is family. I have fought beside her, she is my friend.” Lucy said, fighting back her emotions. Everyone was watching her awkwardly.

“Lucy is right. We have no evidence against Juvia. We have a job to finish and have lost to much time as it is.” Erza said, insisting they get back on the road.

Loke was reluctant to leave and instead walked with them as they continued on. Lucy was still fighting the feeling she had that someone was out to hurt her. The idea that it was Juvia was hard for her to accept. The thought hurt, made her feel empty. Guilt ate at her for even thinking it might be Juvia. She pushed those thoughts away and chose to believe it was just the curse. Something supernatural that had nothing to do with her friends or with who she loved.

Gray could tell Loke’s words bothered Lucy. They bothered him too. He held her close to him for the remainder of the day. He would keep her safe from whatever was going on. He didn’t like the idea the she was being hurt because of him. When he ran into Juvia next they were going to have a long discussion about boundaries. He was starting to think it might be best for her to leave Fairy Tail. And if she was the one hurting Lucy … well he would have to deal with that.


	12. Chapter 12

The moral in camp that night was the lowest it had been the entire trip. It was almost as low as their supplies. The latter was going to be resolved when they hit the next town tomorrow afternoon. As for the former Lucy had no idea how to help cheer everyone up. She felt like it was her fault everyone was on edge. Juvia was after her after all.

Natsu had checked around camp for Juvia three times before he finally settled down. Now that he knew she might be following them he was actively looking for her scent. Lucy wasn’t allowed anywhere on her own, wasn’t even allowed to go to the bathroom alone. She had put her foot down when Gray tried to follow her into the bush, Erza accompanying her had been a compromise. It took most of the day to convince Loke that she would be safe with her team and he could leave her alone.

Lucy had been hoping a good meal would help everyone feel better but the lack of supplies made that difficult. She had managed to put together a soup with wild mushrooms she had found. Thanks to Natsu and Happy’s habit of eating any mushroom they found, Lucy head a good idea of what was edible and what would make mushrooms grow on your head. She stuck with the edible ones even if she was tempted to slip some of the others into Natsu’s soup. They were just sitting down to eat when Gray broke the tense silence that was filling the camp.

“Hey, I think it’s Friday.” He said like it had just occurred to him.

“I believe it is. We have four more days until we reach the boarder.” Erza said.

“It’s the third Friday of the month. Lucy, how about some music?” He asked her.

Lucy blinked at him, a little confused at first. What was he talking about? Why did what day it was matter? It suddenly hit her, Lyra. She could only summon her three days a month and this was on of those days. How did Gray know that? “You know when I can summon Lyra?” She asked.

It was Gray’s turn to look confused. “Of course. I know about all your spirts. Wednesday you can summon all of them except for Cancer, making it your best fighting day. Sundays you are at your weakest with only Loke and Cancer available. Aquarius is only contracted to you on Wednesday but that fluctuates depending on when she has a date. Sagittarius has his archery practice on …” Gray was interrupted by Natsu.

“How do you remember all that?” He asked.

“Because he looooves her” Happy answered.

“Because she is my team mate and I should know her strengths and weaknesses. I also keep a mental list of what your stomach counts as transportation.” Gray had a devilish smirk on his face that gave Lucy the feeling he was planning to use that information against Natsu one day.

“I think some music would be wonderful.” Erza said, preventing an argument before it could start.

Lucy nodded in agreement and summoned Lyra.

“Lucy! It’s been to long!” The spirit exclaimed when she appeared. “You never call me anymore.”

“It’s been two months and I thought you would want a break after that big show at Christmas.” Lucy said as an excuse. The truth was Lyra’s schedule was just hard to keep up with and she would often forget she was allowed to summon her. That and the fact she didn’t have much need for a musical spirt ment that Lyra was one of her least used keys.

Lyra brightened up at the reminder of the Christmas party. “What should I play for you today, Miss Lucy?”

Lucy didn’t have any idea what she should play. Gray walked over and leaned into the spirits ear, whispering something to her. “Oh I love that one!” She said excitedly before she started playing.

It took Lucy a few seconds before she recognized the song she was playing. It was the same one she and Gray had danced to during that Christmas party. Lucy was smiling when Gray walked over to her and held out his hand. “Can I have this dance?”

Lucy blushed, putting her bowl on soup on the ground next to her she took his hand. She immediately pressed herself against him, laying her head on his shoulder while he danced around the fire with her. It didn’t take long for Natsu to talk Erza into dancing with him, if you could call it dancing. He was more or less hoping from one foot to the other while turning them in circles. The two were laughing and enjoying themselves. Lucy summoned Plue so Happy would have a dance partner too. This time when the song ended Gray didn’t hesitate to kiss Lucy. It probably the most perfect moment of Lucy’s life.

After their song Lucy sat back down to finish her dinner. Gray was sitting next to her with his arm around her waist. “We should go visit Alana when this job is over. See how she is doing. I kind of miss the little thing.”

“Yeah, I do too. Lyon said she had been allowed to visit Lamia Scale on rare occasions.” Gray told her.

“Really! That’s great. I’m so happy for her.” Lucy’s smile was as bright as any sun. She had been truly worried Alana’s father wouldn’t listen to anything she had said. She was happy she had been able to change that girls life, even just a little, for the better.

Everyone worked together to clean up after dinner, Lyra’s soothing music helping to relieve the stress from the day. Lucy had first watch tonight and Gray sat through it with her. She was grateful for the company but now without the fire to keep her warm she needed a blanket to snuggle with him. Part of her was starting to dislike the fact he was always cold. Something must have shown on her face because he kissed her forehead lightly.

“You’ll get use to it in time.” He told her. She gave him a questioning look so he explained. “My cold temperature. I’m not always this cold, I seem to suck it out of the air. Once we are back to Magnolia you’ll notice I’m usually a lot warmer.”

Now that he mentioned it Lucy did notice he was colder then normal. Even now she could feel the cold soaking through her blanket. While the air wasn’t as cold as it was in the mountains it was still late February and the temperature never got to what Lucy would consider comfortable.

“I don’t mind. I just don’t like having to be under blankets. I sort of miss felling your arms around me.” Lucy felt the heat flood her face as she said that last part. Gray’s arms tightened around her waist, pulling her back tighter against his chest.

“I’ll just have to hold on tighter.” He told her, earning him a smile and a light kiss.

The rest of Lucy’s watch passed in peaceful quiet with the occasional make-out. Lucy loved the new freedom she had to express herself around Gray. She hadn’t noticed before how much she held back from what she wanted to do just because she was worried what others would think. She made herself a promise after she nearly died that she wouldn’t hold back anymore. She only had this one life and she had almost lost everything she refused to miss out on anything with Gray to make others comfortable. Gray clearly felt much the same way as he couldn’t keep his hands off her. More than once during their joint watch his hands had worked their way under her shirt. His icy hands caused goosebumps to form on her overheated skin. He would have to move away after she started shivering and give her time to warm up before he could hold her again.

Lucy never pushed Gray away when he started getting handsy. She was nervous at first but it quickly past. The truth was she wanted this with him and more. They had the supplies, they were in his bag in his tent. The only thing that held her back from asking was having the rest of the team so near. She could hear Natsu’s snores and a part of her knew that he would be able to tell if they did anything. If Natsu knew then Happy would know and he wouldn’t stop teasing her about it. Happy’s teasing would let Erza know and then she would start with the embarrassing, overly personal questions. Not to mention they didn’t know if Juvia was still around, watching them. Lucy wanted this but she wanted privacy more. It left them in a weird limbo were they both wanted more but neither was willing to initiate it.

Erza found them in one of their more heated moments when she came to takeover for her watch. Gray on top of Lucy while they were kissing. He was naked except for his boxers and he had removed Lucy’s shirt, showing the pale blue bra that he had picked out. Her shirt and blanket were discarded in a pile nearby. Erza was shocked to find her friends like that. Her face turned the same color as her hair as she cleared her throat to announce her presence before things could precede any further. Gray quickly moved off Lucy, covering her with the blanket and handing over her shirt. Lucy was just as red as Erza was.

“Erza … we were just … umm …” Lucy struggled to explain herself as she and Gray got redressed.

“You were ignoring your guard duty?” Erza asked, trying to dispel the awkwardness in her own way.

“Technically I was ignoring my guard duty.” Gray said, earning her a glare from Erza. “It won’t happen again.”

“See that is doesn’t.” Erza said sternly before taking her post.

Lucy felt like her face was on fire as she walked back to the tents. She knew Erza didn’t care that Gray and Lucy were dating but she also knew how seriously she took her work. She wouldn’t tolerate it if Lucy and Gray let their relationship get in the way of doing their jobs. Lucy needed to be more self aware and control herself better. It was just hard to control herself around Gray. She was still red when they got to their tents and said their goodnights. Both silently agreed sharing a tent would not be a good thing at this point.

Lucy ended up sleeping in later then everyone else the next morning. Natsu had wanted to wake her up but Gray stopped him. Lucy needed her sleep, especially after everything that had happened the last few days. Breakfast consisted of some left-over soup and nothing else. They really needed to get into town and get supplies. February was not the best time of year to attempt to live off the land. Lucy was still sleeping as they broke down camp, finally when her tent was the only thing left to pack Gray went to wake her up.

“Lucy, it’s time to wake up.” Gray said as he entered the tent. The first thing he noticed was how warm it was inside the tent compared to outside. It almost felt like Natsu had been sleeping inside the tent and not Lucy. Lucy was laying in the middle of the tent, blankets in a tangled pile at her feet. She was wearing her winter pajamas but they were soaking wet. When Gray got closer he noticed she was drenched in sweat. He could feel the heat radiating off of her. He placed his hand on her forehead to check her temperature. She still didn’t wake up but she moved closer to his cool presence. She was hotter than he had feared, hotter then was safe for anyone to be expect maybe Natsu.

Gray pulled her into his arms in an attempt to cool her down. Lucy’s face contorted in pain and she tried to move away from him but she was too weak. She had still yet to open her eyes. Gray tried everything he could to wake her up. He tried shouting at her, shaking her, kissing her burning hot face, anything. Nothing worked. The only response her received was half hearted shoves at him, trying to keep him away. Gray wouldn’t allow that, he knew she needed to be cooled down fast.

Natsu, Happy and Erza were standing at the entrance to the tent, drawn over by Gray’s shouts for Lucy to wake up. They watched as Gray tried to wake her. Watched him fight her weak protects to being held. He had tears running down his face that he wasn’t even aware of. No one knew what to say, they didn’t even know what was going on.

“What’s wrong with Lucy?” Happy finally asked, moving into the tent.

“I don’t know.” Gray’s voice sounded distant, detached. It contrasted harshly with the emotional turmoil on his face. “She needs help. She needs medicine. She needs a doctor. She needs things we don’t have!” Gray was suddenly yelling. He pulled Lucy closer to him, trying to cool down her fever without sending her into shock.

“What about the healing spirit?” Natsu asked. He wasn’t sure what was going on but he could tell something was wrong with Lucy. She was pale and had a sour smell coming off her. Natsu smell something similar to it come off Cobra when they fought. It was the smell of toxins. He didn’t understand why Lucy would smell like that though.

“Lucy would have to summon her.” Gray said. “She can’t summon anyone right now. I have to get her fever down, I have to.” Gray hated that he was falling apart but he couldn’t seem to get a handle on his emotions. Having to face losing Lucy twice in three days was more than he could handle. Losing Lucy was more than her would be able to handle.

“We are a few hours from the closest town. I suggest we head there and hope they have a doctor or a healer available.” Erza said. “Gray, keep Lucy close to you and work on keeping that fever down. Natsu, Happy, you finish breaking down camp. Me and Gray are going to go ahead and find help for Lucy.”

“Aye sir!” Natsu and Happy both said. Gray could see the worry in all his friends faces but he was too worried about Lucy to offer any type of reassurance to them. With Erza’s help he got Lucy into the cart and sat down with her. He had stripped off most of his clothes and held Lucy tightly against his chest. He was trying to get as much of his skin to make contact with her body as he could. For the time being he left her dressed, worried about cooling her to quickly. Her fever was dangerously high but if he cooled her to fast he could kill her just as easily as the fever would. Erza didn’t waste any time, pushing the horse into a full run as soon as it was hooked up. She would get Lucy to town as fast as possible.

Juvia watched the hectic event of the morning from her safe perch in a near by row of trees. She was to far away to hear what was being said but she could see the frantic movement. She saw Gray caring a lifeless Lucy out of her tent and onto their cart. A lead weight settled in her stomach at the sight. Was Lucy dead? She didn’t want Lucy to die. What had she done?


	13. Chapter 13

"What do you mean there's no doctor?!"

Gray and Erza had made it to the village, if you could call it that. The place only consisted of half a dozen buildings, most looked like they weren't in use this time of year. Gray had been worried this was a ghost town when they ran into an old man in the general store. This was also the man the had informed Gray that they did not have a doctor in or near town.

"I'm sorry son, we have a nice man that comes by every few weeks. I'm afraid you missed him but a few days." The old man who ran the store was nice and if hey weren't in the situation they were in, Gray might have liked him. As it was he was just he man who was telling Gray there was nothing they could do for Lucy.

"Where can we find a doctor?" Erza asked calmly. She was just as worried about Lucy as Gray was but she knew one of them had to stay calm or nothing would be achieved.

"Well, the closest town is a two day hike from here, but I don't think they have a doctor." The man said. He turned slowly to dig into a few drawers behind him. After what felt like a life time to Gray he turned back to them with a map in hand. He rolled it out in the counter in front of them so everyone could see it. Gray was still holding Lucy an had to shit her around in his arms to look at the map.

Lucy's fever had not gone down even a little. If anything she felt hotter then she ha when Gray had found her. He ha changed her into a tank top and sleep shorts he found in her bag but even that didn't seem to help. He was now actively keeping an aura of icy air around them. A the very least it was keeping her from getting any warmer.

The map in front of them was depressingly empty. Northern Fiore was mostly mountains and farmland. The few towns located in the north were hundred of miles apart. The scarcity of people was the reason they had chosen this route to take but that was now coming back to bite them.

The closest town did appear to be two days away and looked to be as small as the one they were currently in. Gray couldn't waste two days on heading somewhere that might not be able to help. He wasn't even sure Lucy could make it two days. As he looked over the map he finally found some hope, a large town bout three days south of their location. It was a own Gray knew well, it was where Lamia Scale was located. It would take to long for him to get Lucy there on his own, but if he could have Sherria meet them somewhere …

"What about this town?" There was a village that was crossed out on the map. It looked to me about half way between where they were an Lamia Scale.

"Oh, that's old Clayborn. It use to be quite the mining town back in the day. Now it's nothing but a ghost own. Nobody lives there accept for maybe the occasional bandit or dark wizard guild. This time of year I will most likely be abandoned. It get's cleared out every few months by that nice wizard guild to the south of here. What did they call themselves again …" The old man told him.

"Lamia Scale." Gray provided for him.

"Ah, yes, that's it. Nice group of kids there." He said, smiling at them.

"Do you have a way of contacting them? We have friends there at may be able to help." Erza asked. She quickly caught on to Gray's plan without him needing to explain.

"I have a communication lacrama in the back. We occasionally have need of their assistance. It can be dangerous living out here alone." He told hem before leading them into a back room where he had the lacrama set up. Gray sat down with Lucy in his lap while Erza worked on connecting with Lamia Scale.

"Hello?" It was Jura who answered the call. He smiled when he saw Gray. "Oh, Gray I want to thank you for your help with Alana."

"Later, Jura. Is Sherria there?" Gary asked. He was trying his best to stay calm. If he got to worked up he would lose the delicate control over his magic that he needed right then.

"I believe she just returned from a job. Is there something wrong?" Jura asked, noticing Lucy who appeared to him to just be sleeping in Gray's arms.

"Who are you talking to Jura? Is that Gray?" Gray groaned at the sound of Lyon's voice. "I need to have a word with him."

"Not right now, Lyon." Gray snapped at him. It was to late though as Lyon shoved Jura out of the way so he could look at Gray.

"I need to talk to you about Juvia." Lyon said, as was always what he wanted to talk to Gray about.

"You can have her!" Gray snapped. "If I never see her again it will be too soon. Now please, Lyon, I need to talk to Sherria."

Lyon looked at Gray with wide eyes for a moment. He had never heard Gray speak so strongly about Juvia. He was always a little wishy-washy when it came to his feelings about the water mage. That more than anything told him something was bothering his adoptive brother. "What's wrong, Gray?"

"Lucy is sick, possibly dying and we need Sherria!" Gray explained quickly. This was the first time Lyon's eye turned to the blonde in Gray's arms.

"Sherria isn't at the guild. Where are you? I'll get her and meet you." Lyon said, suddenly taking things seriously.

Gray quickly explained his plan to Lyon and where to meet up with him. While he did that Erza talked to the store keeper about transportation for Gray. By the time Gray finished talking to Lyon, Erza had everything sorted out. Gray was going to take Lucy and meet with Lyon while Erza and Natsu finished the job. Gray was grateful that Natsu had yet to catch up with them. He knew Natsu wouldn't care about the job like Erza did but Gray would be able to move faster on his own.

The covered the back of the horse with a blanket to protect it against the cold surrounding Gray. With Erza's help he was able to get the limp Lucy settled on the horse with her facing Gray, arms and legs wrapped around him. Once they were situated he took off at a full gallop heading down the road that would lead to Clayborn.

He was a few hours down the road when he noticed the Lucy wasn't sweating anymore. Her fever had yet to come down at all and he was worried she might be dehydrated. The horse needed to rest anyways so he came to a stop and slowly got down, careful not to drop Lucy. He started to fall but luckily two hands were there to catch him. He looked down at the worried face of his friend and Lucy's most loyal spirt.

"Loke, thank Mavis you're here." Gray said as the other man helped him down. "Does this mean Lucy is getting better?"

"I'm afraid not." Loke carefully laid Lucy down. There was obvious concern etched on his face.

Loke and Gray didn't speak after that. Gray made ice chips which he feed slowly to Lucy. At the same time Loke was tending to the horse for him. Lucy didn't react to the first few ice chips Gray fed her but after the first five or six she started to open her mouth for the next one. They rested for an hour before Loke helped the two of them back onto their horse and they continued on. Loke promised to be there when he was needed before he vanished back to the Celestial world.

Gray had to stop every few hours to rest the horse and feed Lucy ice chips. Loke showed up each time to help him out. With each stop Lucy seemed to be getting stronger and by night fall she was clinging to Gray as they rode. They had to move slower once it got dark but Lucy's new strength gave Gray and Loke hope. It was shortly after sunrise when they reached Clayborn. Gray needed Loke's assistance once again to safely get down from the horse. Lucy was now refusing to let go of him and would occasionally mumble at him. He took this as a very good sign.

"How is she doing?" Gray asked Loke. His body temperature was so low now everything felt on ire to him. It was almost painful to touch Lucy or anything. He had never used his magic for so long and this was part of the reason why. For Lucy he would suffer through it.

"She is stronger. Her fever is coming down but still dangerously high." Loke felt his key-holders forehead. The connection he had with Lucy let him know she was feeling stronger but it also allowed him to feel how weak she had become. Things were worse than Gray suspected him to be and it was taking everything in Loke to keep from letting his friend know. Gray was doing everything he could for Lucy but she needed help that he couldn't give her. If he let Gray know just how sick Lucy was it would cause him to panic and that would do no one any good.

Loke also knew that Juvia had been following them. He had been keeping a close eye on Lucy ever since the river. He didn't know how she had gotten sick now but he did know Juvia was near when it happened. They had lost her shortly after leaving for Clayborn and as long as she kept her distance Loke wouldn't worry about her, for now.

Gray sat on the ground against a dilapidated building in the center of town, He had Lucy in his lap and the stone surrounding them had a layer of frost over them. He was continuing to feed her ice chips just to keep himself busy. She continued to suck on them greedily so he felt no need to stop.

Loke was going to take he horse back to it's owner Sherria arrive and he was sure Lucy would be alright. As it was he stood guard over her and Gray. The town was empty but he was ready for trouble to show up at any time. Neither man talked and the air was thick with their silence. The only noise either heard was Lucy's labored breathing.

It was two more hours before anything changed. Lucy had long since stopped taking ice chips and was now nuzzling and kissing Gray's neck and chest. It would almost be cute if it wasn't for the fact she was so sick. Gray wasn't sure if it was a good sign or not, but hearing his name whispered on her lips made him more hopeful than anything. Relief flooded trough Gray when he saw a SE car approaching with Lyon driving.

"Lyon! Please tell me you have Sherria with you!" Gray shouted when the car stopped in front of them. He didn't need Lyon to answer as he saw Sherria rush out of the back and over to his and Lucy's side.

"Lay her down and let me take a look." Sherria ordered him. Gray was quick to comply even as Lucy protested. Sherria laid her ands over Lucy and started her work on finding what was wrong and working to fix it.

"You look ready to keel over yourself" Lyon said as he unhooked himself from the SE plug and walked over to Gray.

"I'm fine, just worry about Lucy." Gray said as he stood up. The moment he tried to take a step closer to Lyon his knees gave out and he went straight for the ground.

"Like hell you are." Lyon grunted as he caught Gray before he could hit the ground.

"Hey, you," Lyon motioned to Loke to get his attention "Help me get him in the car."

"I told you I'm fine." Gray protested as the two men moved him into the back seat of the car.

"How long have you been putting out energy like this?" Lyon asked him. Gray felt like ice, even to Lyon and he hadn't missed the patch of ice were Gray had been sitting.

"Lucy spiked her fever over twenty-four hours ago. Gray has been working to lower it since then." Loke explained. Gray glared at him like Loke had just tattled on him.

"I'm fine. How is Lucy?" Gray said, trying to push the two men off him when they set him down.

"I'll check on her, you rest." Loke told him before walking over to Lucy.

"She's been poisoned some how. I can repair the damage the toxin has done to her system and help with the fever but Lucy is going to need to fight this off on her own." Sherria told Loke when he approached her.

"What are her chances?" Loke asked.

"Without knowing what poison was used, it's hard to say. Lucy is tough though, I have faith in her." Sherria gave him a reassuring smile. "We will get her back to Lamia Scale and she will be good as new in no time."

Loke wasn't fooled. He could feel that Lucy was better than before Sherria arrived but she still was far from alright. "Tell Gray she's going o be fine. I know Lucy, she will pull through. We don't need Gray killing himself to save her.'

"He is a good friend." Sherria said.

"That he is." Loke picked up Lucy and took her over to the car with Gray. She was much cooler then she had been but her fever was still there and he could swear she was getting warmer by the second. He laid her down in the back seat and Lyon pulled her into his lap before Gray got the chance.

"What are you doing Lyon?" Gray asked him, trying o keep his anger in check.

"You need to rest. You've pushed yourself to far as always, Gray. Don' worry I'll take care of Lucy for you." Lyon said as Lucy moved closer to his cool skin.

"I don't need you to 'take care' of her. I can do it just fine." Gray snapped at him.

"I'm just trying to help. What is your problem?" Lyon asked.

"You are! I don't need you getting handsy with my girlfriend." Gray said. She if to prove his point Lucy placed a kiss to Lyon's neck, muttering Gray's name under her breath.

"I'm not interested in Lucy. I'm in love with Juvia." Lyon defended himself.

At the mention of Juvia's name the temperature in the car dropped by several degrees. "Don't talk to me about her right now." Gray's vice held a deadly cold note to it.

"What's your problem man?" Lyon asked. He could see his breath when he spoke and Lucy was even shivering.

"Juvia is he one who did this. I don't know how but I know she is responsible."

Before the conversation could go any farther Sherria poked her head in. "Are we ready to go. Lucy will be alright but we should get her back to the guildhall to rest up."

"We are all set Sherria, thank you." Lyon said. Sherria hooked herself up to the SE plug and hey started back to Lamia Scale. The ride was painfully awkwardly quiet for Gray and Lyon.

Sherri had told Loke before he left that he needed to see if he could find what Lucy ha been poisoned with. Sherria could only do so much and an antidote would help Lucy out a lot. Loke was now on a mission to hunt Juvia down and get her to talk. He would figure out how to help Lucy. He couldn't survive losing her. It would be like Karen all over again


	14. Chapter 14

It was a long drive back to Lamia scale. Sherria and Lyon would take turns driving, Gray’s magic was to depleted for him to drive and he didn’t want to leave Lucy anyways. Lucy was always calmest when being held by Gray or Lyon, who she thought was Gray. Sherria had to force Lucy’s fever down three more times during the trip. Each time she would talk to Lyon just outside of Gray’s hearing. Gray didn’t have to hear them to know what they were talking about. Lucy wasn’t doing good.

Sherria was a great healer, on par with Wendy, but she had focused her skills on healing injuries, not illness. It was one of the things her magic struggled with. Because Wendy could increase a persons energy she was much better at healing things like sickness and poison. Sherria was doing the best she could but she wanted to get Lucy back to Lamia Scale as soon as possible.

It was near dark on the second day of travel when they reached the guild. Jura was waiting for them and Lucy was taken to the infirmary to rest. She was looking better thanks to Sherria but her fever wouldn’t stay down and she still had yet to fully wake up. Gray refused to leave Lucy’s side and instead laid down next to her, holding her to him. They were finally somewhere Lucy could get help. Feeling relieved Gray closed his eyes and let himself drift to sleep.

Gray was being watch. He could feel it before he was even fully awake. His arm tightened around Lucy’s waist, reassuring himself she was still there. He forced himself to stay relaxed as he assessed his surroundings. He could feel the sun in his face so it was daytime. The room was quiet so he assumed they were alone except for whoever was watching them. He heard a strangled whimper come from the other side of the room, near the door. That’s where their intruder was.

Gray was facing the door, he opened his eyes, his glare meeting that of the person watching them. He was faced with dark blue eyes full of tears. Juvia was watching them. He wasn’t even surprised, just angry and hurt. There was only one way Juvia would know they were at Lamia Scale, only one reason for her to be there. He had been holding out hope that she wasn’t responsible but right now he was angry and worried and Juvia was the cause of all his pain for the last four days.

Gray didn’t think about his actions, all he could think about was everything that had happened to them, all the pain that they had suffered, all the crap they had suffered during this last job and how it was all because of Juvia. He was across the room before Juvia could react. He slammed his hands down on the wall on either side of her head, ice forming over it. His rage was effecting his control over his magic.

“What did you do, Juvia!” Gray shouted at her.

Juvia tried to shrink down, maker herself smaller. “Juvia didn’t mean too.”

“What did you do!” Gray repeated.

“Juvia didn’t want Lucy hurt. She just wanted to make Lucy sick so she wouldn’t be around Gray. Juvia didn’t mean this to happen. Juvia was trying to protect her beloved.” Juvia couldn’t look at Gray, the words coming out in the barest whisper.

“Juvia!” Gray grabbed her by the arm. His out of control magic instantly froze her arm where he grabbed, the ice slowly started to spread out from there. Juvia screamed out in pain. Gray was freezing Juvia solid, not just across the surface. It was one of the most painful things she had ever experienced.

“Gray, get off her!” He was yanked away from Juvia by Lyon. Juvia’s left arm was entirely ice. It spread from her fingertips up to her shoulder and over part of her chest. She sank to the ground holding the frozen limb.

“Let me go, Lyon! She knows what happened to Lucy!” Gray was struggling against Lyon’s hold.

“Juvia has already informed us of what happened.” It was Jura’s calm voice that spoke. Gray stopped struggling to get free from Lyon and watched the tall Wizard Saint enter the room.

“Lucy ate a rare and very poisonous mushroom. Juvia was able to provide us with a sample of the plant and we now have an antidote. It is quite possible she has saved Lucy’s life.” Jura explained, holding up a bottle with the antidote.

“You poisoned her! What the hell is wrong with you!” Gray lunged at Juvia again, Lyon was just fast enough to catch him before he could reach her.

“Juvia is sorry. Juvia didn’t know. Juvia is sorry.” Juvia kept repeating herself.

“Gray, you’re going to kill her if you don’t settle down.” Lyon said, fighting to keep control over Gray. Anywhere Gray would touch on Lyon was cover in ice. It didn’t bother the follow ice mage near as much as it would anyone else.

“That is enough.” Jura didn’t shout but his voice filled the room and everyone quieted down instantly. “This is a place of healing. If you wish to fight I suggest you take it elsewhere.”

Gray shoved Lyon off him and followed Jura to Lucy’s bed. He helped her feed the antidote to her. Lyon walked over to Juvia and helped her up and over to one of the beds on the opposite side of the room from Lucy. He started working on undoing the damage Gray had caused.

“Juvia did not want Lucy to die. Juvia likes Lucy. She was one of the first people to be nice to Juvia, even before Juvia joined Fairy Tail. Juvia was just … jealous.” She told Lyon as he melted the ice on her arm.

“You don’t have to explain to me, Juvia. I understand what it’s like to hurt people when you think you are doing the right thing.” Lyon told her.

“Lyon … understands?” Juvia sounded confused. She didn’t expect anyone to understand her.

“Well, I never acted out in jealousy …” His eyes flicked over to Gray and Lucy. Juvia could see the jealous look in his eyes.

“You like Lucy too?” Juvia asked.

Lyon couldn’t help but laugh. “No, not Lucy.”

Juvia gasped and covered her mouth with her one free hand. Her face was bright red. “Lyon is in love with Gray?”

“What! Gray! No way!” Lyon sighed after getting over the initial shock at her accusation. “No, Juvia, I love you. I want to marry you and have children with you, as many as you want. I want to be with you, Juvia. Gray has always been in the way of that.”

Juvia didn’t know what to say to that. She had heard such things from him in the past but she had always been too distracted by Gray to take him seriously. Now she was having to face the harsh reality that Gray did not love her. It was devastating to her but siting here with this handsome man telling her how he wanted her … It softened the pain, just a little.

Lyon had been trying hard to keep his feeling for Juvia in check since she walked into the guild that morning. He was crazy for her but he knew how she felt for Gray and had long since sworn to himself to keep his feeling controlled until Juvia’s feelings for Gray changed. He had listened to Juvia’s story about how she found out about Gray and Lucy dating. He had been furious with Gray, still was to a degree. He was constantly telling Gray he needed to be honest with Juvia about his feelings but Gray had always chickened out, lead her on. He always let Juvia believe there could be something between them one day and then for him not to have the courage to tell her he was seeing another woman … it really pissed Lyon off.

Nothing Juvia had done was intended to harm Lucy. She had told Lyon, Sherria, and Jura everything, often with tears running down her face. She had caused rain storms in hopes they would give up on their trip. Had taken Lucy’s things. The rock slide had been an attempt to block the road only the days of rain made the cliff side more unstable. Everything she did was an attempt to make Lucy uncomfortable so she would leave and Juvia could take her place.

The night Lucy got sick Juvia had added some mushrooms to her bowl while she danced with Gray. She had been only intending to give Lucy an upset stomach. She knew they would be hitting a town the next day and had hoped Lucy would choose to stay there and meet up with the team on their way home. Juvia had planned to run into them with an excuse of finishing up a job in the area and suggest she accompany them for the remainder of the job and the journey home. She didn’t know how toxic the mushrooms she had given Lucy were going to be.

An awkward silence fell over the room after Lyon’s declaration. He quickly finished undoing Gray’s magic without looking Juvia in the face. He knew she didn’t feel the same way and he was a fool for saying anything.

“You’re probably going to feel cold and numb for most of the day, but you’ll be fine.” He said when he was finished.

“Thank you.” Juvia said in a quiet voice, testing out her arm and moving her fingers.

“It’s probably best if you don’t stay around here.” He told her. “But don’t leave town, not until the master talks with you.”

Juvia nodded, sitting on the edge of the bed for a moment while she thought. “Juvia has not eaten for a long time. Would Lyon know a place Juvia could go?”

Lyon looked up at her and noticed the blush on her face. Was this Juvia’s way of asking him out on a date? Even if it wasn’t he wasn’t going to miss the chance to take this fascinating water mage out. “I know a great place for lunch. Let me show you.”

Gray watched to two leave. Jura had been standing near the doors but once Juvia and Lyon left he did as well. Apparently he had been acting as baby sitter. Gray didn’t care. He meant what he had said before, Lyon could have Juvia. He would be happy to have her out of the guild and if he had his way she would be.

Lucy’s mind was fuzzy as she started to wake up. Her body felt weak and her eyes refused to open. She had weird dreams about being trapped in a volcano during a blizzard. What was that about? She felt something cool and hard against her side and somehow she knew it was Gray. She wanted to say something but her mouth and throat were dry and scratchy. As if someone would read her thoughts Lucy felt something cold pressed against her lips. She gratefully took the ice and let it melt in her mouth, alleviating a little of the painful dryness.

After two more slivers of ice, Lucy picked up a slight flavor to it. There was just a hint of spice to the ice, like cider. Gray was feeding her his own ice, it somehow made the whole thing more intimate. When he placed the next piece in her mouth she couldn’t suppress the light moan. She could pick up all the layers of flavor that made the ice distinctly Grays. She felt him tense up next to her at the sound but when she opened her mouth he was there with more ice for her.

After two more pieces she wasn’t thirsty anymore but she was enjoying the sensation of him feeding her. With the next piece she flicked her tongue out over the pad of his finger. She moaned again at getting a full taste of him. She felt him stiffen again and his body weight shifted on the bed. Lucy was worried she had pushed him a little to far but when she opened her lips again, he was there was another sliver of ice. She again flicked her tongue over his finger.

Lucy wasn’t sure what had started their little game but she was enjoying it. In the back of her mind she knew they would have to get up soon and get back onto the road. They were only a few days from Seven. The had a job to finish but Lucy decided that once they were home she was going to spend a whole day in bed with Gray feeding her ice chips.

When she opened her lips for the next ice chip she was surprised to be greeted by Gray’s lips instead. His kiss was hard and desperate. It pulled out something in her, a need to comfort and reassure him. She threw her arms around him even though they still felt heavy. She pulled him on top of her, held him close as his kiss stole her breath away. She could feel cold tears falling onto her face and she didn’t understand. She didn’t understand why Gray was upset, she only knew that he needed this.

“Lucy, I’m so glad you’re alive.” Gray said when he finally broke the kiss. Lucy looked up into his teary eyes while she tried to catch her breath. She was still confused as to what was going on.

“What’s wrong? What happened?” Lucy asked.

Gray hugged her close to him. “You ate some toxic mushrooms. We are at Lamia Scale. They helped you. I didn’t think you were going to make it.”

Gray felt it was best to just give her a summery of what happened. He could explain the rest when she was feeling better. He wasn’t trying to protect Juvia, he was protecting Lucy. He didn’t want to upset her to much right away.

“Is everyone else alright? Where is Natsu, Happy, and Erza?” Lucy asked, looking around. She didn’t recognize where they were but it was set up similar to the clinic in Fairy Tail. This must be the Lamia Scale guild hall. She and Gray were the only one there though.

“Everyone else was fine. They continued on with the job while I brought you here to Sherria. You have been out for nearly a week.” Gray told her.

It had been two days since Lucy had been given the antidote. Gray hadn’t seen Juvia or Lyon during that time. He had talked with the Master of Lamia Scale, told her everything they had experienced during their job. Juvia had accepted the blame for most of the events except for the Vulcan and animal attacks. While she was responsible for the rain that drove them into their path she hadn’t ever intended for that to happen. He had been told that Master Makarov would be contacted and it was up to him to decide Juvia’s punishment. Makarov wanted to talk to Lucy before anything was decided.

Gray was under orders to keep Lucy in bed when she woke up and he took that to heart. He was reluctant to leave her even for the few minutes it would take to get her food. When he came back with a tray for her his was relieved to see Loke sitting with Lucy and she was laughing.

“Loke, I’m glad you’re here. Does that mean everything is alright?” Gray asked. He sat the try and Lucy’s lap and sat down next to her when she moved to make room for him.

“We have all been worried about Lucy but she is regaining her strength.” Loke said, he smiled at Lucy.

“I don’t know, I think I might still be dying. Loke hasn’t made one perverted comment since he showed up.” Lucy almost sounded like she was complaining but Gray knew it was just her worry over his strange behavior.

“As much as it pains me to say, I have come to accept I will never be able to sway your affections from Gray.” Loke placed a hand over his heart with a mock pained look. “Perhaps one kiss before I die from heartbreak.”

“I’m not normally into dudes, but if it’s your dying wish and all I guess I can make an exception.” Gray said before leaning in towards Loke who fell backwards off the bed he was sitting on in an attempt to get away from Gray. Lucy almost chocked on her food laughing at the two of them.

“So what’s going to happen to Juvia?” Loke asked once he had righted himself.

“The Master hasn’t decided yet. It’s not like with Laxus where he was intending hurting the guild. Juvia was just being stupid.” Gray sigh. Much of his anger at Juvia had faded now that Lucy was awake and doing well. Juvia was crazy and impulsive but he did believe her when she said she hadn’t meant to hurt Lucy.

“I think she’s dangerous and someone needs to deal with her.” Loke said. He knew the dangers of indulging bad behavior. They had let Karren get away with almost literal murder in Blue Pegasus and it lead her to think she could always get her way and eventually lead to her death.

“What does Juvia have to do with this?” Lucy asked. “I thought I just ate some bad mushrooms?”

Gray and Loke both looked at each other before answering. “Juvia put the mushrooms in your soup.” Gray told her.

He was then forced to explain everything that had happened during their job and what had happened while she was unconscious. Loke filled in part, like apparently he had run into Juvia after leaving Clayford. She was already on her way to confess what had happened but Loke had added and extra level of fear to motivate her. He wouldn’t say what he did only that she wouldn’t dare endanger Lucy again. Lucy was having a hard time taking in all the information they were giving her but sadly she didn’t have any trouble believing what they were telling her. It just hurt to think her friend and guild mate would do that to her.

“Lucy!” Lucy just had time to look up from her lap before Happy flew head first into her chest, crying. “I’m so glad you’re alive!”

“Erza wouldn’t let us come see you any sooner, Luce.” Natsu explained as he rushed over to her bed too. Gray moved out of the way so their friends would have room to check on Lucy.

“We had a job to finish. You would have just been in the way here.” Erza said, the only one to enter the room calmly. Lucy could see the worry lines on Erza’s face. She got up and gave Erza a hug, ending up in the middle of a group hug with Natsu and Happy.

“I’m sorry I worried you all. I guess I could watch what I eat from now on.” Lucy smiled at them. She was escorted back to the bed by Erza. Once she was back in bed she wanted to hear all about how the rest of the job went.

“It was totally boring. There wasn’t a single good fight.” Natsu complained.

“You most not be counting all the fighting you did with Erza.” Happy snickered.

“I wasn’t fighting her!” Natsu said.

“You’re right, a fight would mean you were able to land a hit on her.” Happy teased.

“Come one, man, you make me sound like a loser!”

“Maybe that’s because you are!”

Lucy couldn’t help but laugh at her friends. Being around them had a way of melting all her worries away. Everything had turned out well in the end. Lucy was alive, the job had been finished, and Team Natsu was still in one piece. The rest of what was going to happen, With Juvia and with Gray and Lucy’s relationship, it could be figured out another day.


	15. Chapter 15

_Dear Mom,_

_I'm sorry it's been such a long time since I wrote to you. My life has been a little crazy the last few weeks. New about what happened during my last job spread around the guild really fast. But that's just how Fairy Tail is I guess. By the time I got home the story had been twisted to make it sound like I had been on deaths door and gray saved me with a kiss like some old fairy tale. It was all a little strange._

_News that me and Gray are an official couple was almost as big as the adventure we had been on. It turns out that Erza won the bet on when we would make it official. Cana tried to claim she cheated but wasn't daring enough to really push the subject._

_Things calmed down for a little while after that. I had to talk with the Master about what Juvia had done. He wanted to expel her from the guild but I begged him not too. I know you might not agree with that, mom, Gray sure didn't, but Fairy Tail is all Juvia has. She loves the guild as much as I do and I couldn't take that away from her. I guess I'm just a little to kind hearted._

_Speaking of Juvia, we haven't seen her since we came back. Mira said she calls in every once and a while to take a job but she hasn't returned to Magnolia. I guess she is worried about what the rest of the guild will say. Maybe she isn't ready to face Gray yet. I don't really know I'm just happy I don't have to see her yet. I still worry about being followed at times._

_Oh, Gray is moving in with me tomorrow. I'm a little nervous about it which is silly seeing he practically lives here anyways. There still isn't a day I come home without finding him or Natsu in my house. Hopefully once Gray is moved in, Natsu will get the hint to stay away. Erza says she is going to make sure we have the privacy a new couple needs but I'm not so sure about that._

_Natsu is starting to handle things better I think. He still mopes around the guild hall when me and Gray are on dates but I think he just doesn't like being excluded. Lisanna has been helping out with him. She tried to keep him distracted so I don't feel too guilty. It's clear she is still in love with him but I don't think Natsu feels the same way. I hope things work out for him._

_I really miss you mom. You and dad. I wish you two could have met Gray. I really think you would have liked him Mom. I have so many questions I wish I could ask you. But don't worry about me. I have lots of great friends I can turn too. I promise not to listen to everything Cana says._

_I love you,_

_Lucy._

It had been near two months since Juvia had last set foot in Fairy Tail. She missed her friends, especially Gajeel, but she couldn't face them yet. She had been staying with Lyon from Lamia Scale. Their relationship had started out being strictly physical but now things had changed in big ways. Lyon had made Juvia an offer that she wasn't sure if she should take.

Time away from Gray was proving to be good for Juvia. She had been heartbroken at first and it took a long time for her to be willing to go out into the world again. Lyon had helped with that. He had offered her a home, and understanding ear, even invited her to his bed.

He did not care at first when she would fantasize about Gray when she was with him. It had hurt him, she had not missed the pain in his eyes or his reluctance to be near her after. She knew it was unfair to him but he had never turned her away when she had sought his company. He gave Juvia anything she wanted because he loved her, even if that meant being a stand in for Gray.

Juvia didn't know exactly when her fantasy's changed. She wasn't sure when she had stopped dreaming about dark hair and now loved the blueish white hair Lyon had. The man in her dreams now had a mermaid on his right chest in place of a fairy. She had been with him for less then a week before she no longer thought of Gray during their private moments. The first night she had used Lyon's name instead of Gray's during her cries had been magical. He had held her close the entire night and for the first time Juvia felt fully accepted by someone.

Juvia and Lyon talked now. They spent most of their free time together. He even helped her with jobs for Fairy Tail. She knew all about when he had done as the Cold Emperor and he knew what she had done while with Phantom. They both had things in their past they were ashamed of but neither judged the other for who they use to be.

Juvia was now back to Magnolia for the first time in months. If she had it her way she wouldn't be back but the master wouldn't allow her to call in for jobs anymore. It was time for her to face her punishment, whatever it might be. She was now standing in front of the guild trying to get the strength to open the doors.

"You'll always have a place in Lamia Scale." Lyon told her. He wrapped an arm around her from behind and pulled her to his chest. He had insisted he come with her. He didn't want her facing Gary alone. He had attempted to talk her out of coming entirely. Told her to leave Fairy Tail and join Lamia Scale. It hadn't worked.

"Juvia cannot run from what she did. She must face her punishment." She took strength from Lyon's closeness. He made her feel stronger much like Gajeel could. It was strange to her how easily he filled the void left by both her best friend and her obsession. Juvia took a deep breath and walked into the guildhall.

The guild went silent when Juvia and Lyon entered. Juvia wanted to turn around and leave but she knew that wasn't an option.

"What are you doing here!" Gray shouted. Juvia flinched at the anger in his voice. "No one want's you here, Lyon!"

Juvia looked at Lyon, confused at first. She forgot that he and Gray didn't get along well. It was one of the things Lyon regretted most from his past decisions.

"I wasn't aware I was required to get your permission, Gray." Lyon said in his normal calm voice.

"Well you're aware now so get the hell out!" Gray shouted at him.

"Go talk with your master, I'll keep Gray distracted." Lyon whispered in Juvia's ear. She felt a wave of gratitude and nodded before rushing up the stair to the second level where she saw Makarov watching them.

"And what are you doing with Juvia? She's Fairy Tail!" Gray had left his table with his team to get into Lyon's face. He had also left most of his clothes at the table.

"I thought you didn't want her now that you have blondie." Lyon sneered at him.

"Her name is Lucy!" Gray said.

Juvia walked up to the master and bowed her head. The ice was already starting to fly in the guild below, quickly followed by fire and swords and all sorts of magic. "Juvia is sorry. She didn't know bringing Lyon would cause so much trouble."

Makarov laughed as he turned around on the banister to look at her. "No trouble at all. If I know my children they would have found a reason to fight with or without Lyon."

"You wanted to talk to Juvia?" She asked, she was still scared to look at him.

"Yes, well, I suppose it must be done at some point." His sighed heavily. "I am very disappointed with you, Juvia."

"Juvia is sorry she hurt Lucy. She did not mean too. Juvia swears she will not do it again." Juvia told him.

"Of that I am sure. You have managed to make quite a few friends here, all of who spoke up in your defense. Even Lucy expressed a desire to protect you from punishment." Juvia looked up at the master at that. "It seems even Gray has come around to forgiving you."

"Juvia does not deserve to be forgiven. Juvia swore to never harm a member of Fairy Tail again but she hurt her friends." Juvia was shacking her head, she wasn't willing to accept forgiveness, especially from Gray.

"It is not up to you on if they forgive you or not, that is their decision to make." Makarov sat down and turned back to the fighting that was still going on down below. "It appears you are punishing yourself enough for your actions. But know this, Juvia, I do not tolerate malicious actions from any of my children."

Juvia couldn't comprehend what she was hearing. She wasn't going to be punished? She wasn't being kicked out of the guild? She looked out on the guild, her friends. Most of the fighting had died down. She spotted Gajeel in the corner with Levy, Jet, and Droy. Gajeel had found love and it suited him well. Cana was at the bar, drinking with her father. Erza and Lucy were laughing as Natsu, Gray and Lyon were still fighting. Lyon and Gray were both in their boxers.

It was Lyon her eyes were drawn too. She knew his body well, had spent the last few weeks tracing ever muscle and scar on it. It was then she realized the pain she was expecting to feel on seeing Gray wasn't there. She felt guilt over what she had done but she didn't long for him as she had expected she would. Instead her eyes kept going to Lyon. The man who could free ice and give it life had done the same fore her. He helped free her from her past and was offering her a new life.

"Master?" Juvia said, getting a hum from Makarov to know he was listening. "Thank you for everything you have done for Juvia, but she cannot stay here."

"Are you sure about this?" He asked her. He had not missed the way she was looking at Lyon.

Juvia nodded. "Juvia is sure."

"If this is what you want." Makarov said before addressing the guild at large. "Listen up kids!"

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked up to him and Juvia. Juvia suddenly felt nervous with all the eyes on her.

"Juvia has made the choice to leave Fairy Tail." Makarov announced. There was an eruption of protests. "Quiet down!" Makarov snapped to regain order. "This was Juvia's decision and it is one we will honor."

Makarov turned to Juvia. "Before you leave, there are three things you must understand."

"One, you must never reveal sensitive information about Fairy Tail as long as you live." It was Erza that spoke up.

"Two, you must not have unauthorized contact with past clients or profit personally from them." Lucy added the next part in, walking over to stand next to Gray, looking at him until he finished the ceremony.

"Three, even if we walk different paths, one must always live on as strong as you are able. You must never treat your own life as something insignificant. You must never forget the friends you love for as long as you live." As Gray finished speaking the rest of the guild members held up their hands in the Fairy Tail salute.

"I wish you nothing but happiness going forward. You may not have been with us long, but you will always be a child of Fairy Tail." Makarov told her. Juvia was already near tears when the small man hugged her.

"Let's give Juvia a party she will never forget!" Natsu shouted to cheers from everyone else.

"Hell yeah! Bring on the booze!" Cana shouted from her spot at the bar.

A party broke out in the way only Fairy Tail could. Juvia headed back down stairs and found her way over to Lyon, she picked up his clothes along the way, handing them over to him.

"Juvia, why are you leaving Fairy Tail?" He asked her. He was now standing with the rest of Team Natsu. Lucy was handing Gray clothes just as Juvia was doing with Lyon.

"Juvia decided to take Lyon up on his offer." Juvia said, her face turning a deeper shade of red than Erza's hair.

"You talked her into joining Lamia Scale?" Gajeel had walked over to the group, intent on seeing what his friend was thinking, leaving him alone with the Fairies.

Juvia bit her lip and shook her head no at Gajeel. "Juvia is not talking about joining Lamia Scale."

"Then what are we talking about? Why did ya quite Fairy Tail?" Gajeel asked, the question being echoed by everyone around her except for Lyon.

Lyon was staring at her with his mouth hanging open. "Do you mean it, Juvia?"

Juvia nodded nervously. "It would make Juvia very happy. If Lyon still wishes to marry Juvia …"

"Marry!" The crowed around her was in shock, except Lyon who picked her up and spun her in a circle before setting her on her feet again.

"Yes, I want to still marry you." He said.

"And have thirty-three children?" Juvia asked.

"As many as you want, Juv." He told her before he kissed her.

"Looks like were celebrating an engagement too!" Gajeel shouted over the noise of the party. Mira squealed loudly in her excitement. Cheers of congratulations rang out about the room. Elfman even called Lyon a real man for asking.

Juvia was sad that she was leaving Fairy Tail and all of her friends. She was going to mess the odd behaviors she had grown use to in the guild. She would miss the fights and the wild parties. She would miss Gajeel and Gray. But when Lyon kissed her again she knew she was making the right choice. She loved this man and it was a true love, a healthy love. It took everything that had happened for her to finally understand how toxic her obsession with Gray had been.

Juvia understood now she had never truly loved Gray. She loved what she had thought Gray represented. A hot man who balanced her. That could show her the bright parts of life and chase away her clouds. Someone who was cool and calm to her hot and wild fantasies. Someone that treated her gently even with her harsh power. She had found that person in her life but it wasn't Gray, it was Lyon.

She spent the remainder of the night partying with her friends and saying goodbye. Not once in the night did her eyes or mind wonder to Gray. Another ice mage now had her full attention and she was deliriously happy with that.


End file.
